Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

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Determinants of Profitability of Fish Farming in Cameroon

Received: Jun. 08, 2018    Accepted: Aug. 22, 2018    Published: Sep. 26, 2018
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Abstract

Aquaculture remains an important source of food, nutrition, income and livelihoods for millions of people around the world. In Cameroon, like in most Sub-Saharan African countries, natural breeding and traditional fishing occur in virtually every river, lake and pond and the aquaculture sector predominantly comprises of small-scale producers with some larger-scale commercial activities. Although so many Cameroonian natives are involved in aquaculture, little profit is realized from their activities. Barriers to fish production include insufficient quality and quantity of fingerlings, inadequate quality of feed, inadequate financing and weak technical capacities. These problems lead to a core challenge of low supply of fish, coupled with low returns to fish farming and marketing. The study therefore sought to determine the level of profitability of fish farming and assess the main determinants of profitability of fish farming. It used data collected from 60 fish farmers in the Fako Division of Cameroon through personal interviews, using a pre-tested questionnaire. The study adopted net profit analysis to determine profitability and a Cobb-Douglas power function to quantify the effects of various factors on profit. The study found that fish farming is a profitable business with a mean net profit of 1 896 443 FCFA per production cycle of 4 months. Linear regression revealed that profitability of fish farmers was influenced by the price of feed, price of fingerlings and the cost of labor. The implications of the findings are that profitability can be enhanced by building the capacity of fish farmers on how to make fish production and marketing more cost effective. Farmers therefore need to know how to manage both variable and fixed costs in order to maximize profits.

DOI 10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14
Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ( Volume 7, Issue 3, June 2018 )
Page(s) 89-93
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Profitability, Fish Farming, Cameroon

References
[1] Viswanathan, K. K., Nielsen J. R., Degnbol P., Ahmed M., Hara M. & Abdullah N. M. R. (2003). Fisheries co-management policy brief: findings from a worldwide study. World Fish Center, Penang, Malaysia, 26pp.
[2] FAO. (2016). National aquaculture sector overview Cameroon. Retrieved from http//www.fao.org/fisheries/country sector/nasocameroon/en
[3] FAO. (2007). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Rome.
[4] Ridler, N. &Hishamunda, N., (2001). Promotion of Sustainable Commercial Aquaculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Policy Framework Vol. 1. Rome: FAO
[5] Hecht, T. (2006). Regional review on aquaculture development in Sub-Saharan Africa FAO.
[6] Ahmed, A., Dodo A., Bouba A. M., Clement S. &Dzudie T. (2011). Influence of Traditional Drying and Smoke-Drying on the Quality of Three Fish Species (Tilapia nilotica, SilurusglanisandAriusparkii) from Lagdo Lake, Cameroon. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 10: 301-306.
[7] Pouomogne, V., &Pemsl, D. (2008). Recommendation Domains for Pons Aquaculture, Country Case Study. Development and status of fresh water aquaculture in Cameroon. WorldFish Centre Review, 60.
[8] SDGE (2009). Strategy Document for Growth and Employment (SDGE). Yaounde.
[9] Satia, N. B. (1991). Historique du développement de la pisciculture au Cameroun
[10] FAO. (2006). Fisheries statistic in fisheries global information system. http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2957.
[11] Kapetsky, J. M. (2004). A Strategic Assessment of warm-water fish farming potential in Africa. 67 Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization.
[12] FAO. (2009). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2008. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Rome.
[13] Okeke-Agulu, N. A., &Chukwuone, K.(2012). Profitability of Catfish Production in JOS Metropolis of Platateau State, Nigeria: A Profit Function Approach. Agricultural Journal, 7(3), 226–229.
[14] Agbon, A. O., Ezeri, G. N. O., Ikenwiewe, B. N., Alegbleye, N. O. & Akomolade, D. T. (2002). A comparative study of different storage methods on the shelf life of smoked current fish. Journal of Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 134-136.
[15] NjankouaW. D., Pouomogne V., NyemeckB. J. &YossaN. R. (2012). Farmer’s Perception and Adoption of New Aquaculture Technologies in the Western Highlands of Cameroon. TROPICULTURA, 30, 3, 180-184.
[16] Bigwa, C. (2013). Feasibility of aquaculture in Cameroon: the case of the Noun division in the West Region [final project].http://www.unuftp.is/static/fellows/document/charlotte12prf.pdf
[17] Biddle, J. (2012). The Introduction of the Cobb – Douglas Regression. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(2), 223–236.
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  • APA Style

    Cynthia Jeh Mkong, Ernest Lytia Molua, Stephanie Mvodo. (2018). Determinants of Profitability of Fish Farming in Cameroon. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 7(3), 89-93. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14

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    ACS Style

    Cynthia Jeh Mkong; Ernest Lytia Molua; Stephanie Mvodo. Determinants of Profitability of Fish Farming in Cameroon. Agric. For. Fish. 2018, 7(3), 89-93. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14

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    AMA Style

    Cynthia Jeh Mkong, Ernest Lytia Molua, Stephanie Mvodo. Determinants of Profitability of Fish Farming in Cameroon. Agric For Fish. 2018;7(3):89-93. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14,
      author = {Cynthia Jeh Mkong and Ernest Lytia Molua and Stephanie Mvodo},
      title = {Determinants of Profitability of Fish Farming in Cameroon},
      journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
      volume = {7},
      number = {3},
      pages = {89-93},
      doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20180703.14},
      abstract = {Aquaculture remains an important source of food, nutrition, income and livelihoods for millions of people around the world. In Cameroon, like in most Sub-Saharan African countries, natural breeding and traditional fishing occur in virtually every river, lake and pond and the aquaculture sector predominantly comprises of small-scale producers with some larger-scale commercial activities. Although so many Cameroonian natives are involved in aquaculture, little profit is realized from their activities. Barriers to fish production include insufficient quality and quantity of fingerlings, inadequate quality of feed, inadequate financing and weak technical capacities. These problems lead to a core challenge of low supply of fish, coupled with low returns to fish farming and marketing. The study therefore sought to determine the level of profitability of fish farming and assess the main determinants of profitability of fish farming. It used data collected from 60 fish farmers in the Fako Division of Cameroon through personal interviews, using a pre-tested questionnaire. The study adopted net profit analysis to determine profitability and a Cobb-Douglas power function to quantify the effects of various factors on profit. The study found that fish farming is a profitable business with a mean net profit of 1 896 443 FCFA per production cycle of 4 months. Linear regression revealed that profitability of fish farmers was influenced by the price of feed, price of fingerlings and the cost of labor. The implications of the findings are that profitability can be enhanced by building the capacity of fish farmers on how to make fish production and marketing more cost effective. Farmers therefore need to know how to manage both variable and fixed costs in order to maximize profits.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Determinants of Profitability of Fish Farming in Cameroon
    AU  - Cynthia Jeh Mkong
    AU  - Ernest Lytia Molua
    AU  - Stephanie Mvodo
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14
    T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
    SP  - 89
    EP  - 93
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5648
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20180703.14
    AB  - Aquaculture remains an important source of food, nutrition, income and livelihoods for millions of people around the world. In Cameroon, like in most Sub-Saharan African countries, natural breeding and traditional fishing occur in virtually every river, lake and pond and the aquaculture sector predominantly comprises of small-scale producers with some larger-scale commercial activities. Although so many Cameroonian natives are involved in aquaculture, little profit is realized from their activities. Barriers to fish production include insufficient quality and quantity of fingerlings, inadequate quality of feed, inadequate financing and weak technical capacities. These problems lead to a core challenge of low supply of fish, coupled with low returns to fish farming and marketing. The study therefore sought to determine the level of profitability of fish farming and assess the main determinants of profitability of fish farming. It used data collected from 60 fish farmers in the Fako Division of Cameroon through personal interviews, using a pre-tested questionnaire. The study adopted net profit analysis to determine profitability and a Cobb-Douglas power function to quantify the effects of various factors on profit. The study found that fish farming is a profitable business with a mean net profit of 1 896 443 FCFA per production cycle of 4 months. Linear regression revealed that profitability of fish farmers was influenced by the price of feed, price of fingerlings and the cost of labor. The implications of the findings are that profitability can be enhanced by building the capacity of fish farmers on how to make fish production and marketing more cost effective. Farmers therefore need to know how to manage both variable and fixed costs in order to maximize profits.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Centre for Independent Development Research, Buea, Cameroon; Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon

  • Centre for Independent Development Research, Buea, Cameroon; Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon

  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon

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