Comparative Analysis of Fish Farmers’ Knowledge of Basic Fish Farming Practices in Lagos and Osun States, Nigeria

Without targeted educational programmes and resources to enhance their knowledge base, fish farmers may miss out on the benefits of improved practices, which could ultimately threaten their livelihoods and the sustainability of fish farming as a whole. The study conducts a comparative analysis of fish farmers’ knowledge of basic fish farming practices in Lagos and Osun States. The population of the study consists of all registered fish farmers in Lagos and Osun States, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed for the selection of 300 respondents for this study. The data for this study was collected from the respondents using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule while the data obtained was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Descriptive statistical tools employed include; frequency counts, percentages, means and weighted mean score (WMS) while the inferential statistical tool was a t-test. The finding shows that knowledge related to basic fish farming practices were sourced primarily from government agricultural extension agencies, experienced fish farmers, academic research journals and scientific publications and fisheries cooperatives and associations and lack of readily available, relevant and reliable information, limited internet access and digital literacy, financial constraints, lack of access to extension services and time constraints were the constraints to acquiring knowledge on basic fish farming practices. The t-test result shows that there was no significant difference in the fish farmers’ knowledge level of basic fish farming practices in Lagos and Osun States. It was recommended that easily understandable, locally relevant information materials in local languages, addressing specific challenges faced by the fish farmers be developed and disseminated to the fish farmers and such materials should be visually engaging and minimize technical jargons.