Fish Consumption Behavior and Fish Farming Attitude in Kingdom Of

Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016) xxx, xxx–xxx

King Saud University Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences

www.ksu.edu.sa www.sciencedirect.com

FULL LENGTH ARTICLE Fish consumption behavior and ﬁsh farming attitude in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Abdul Qader Khan *, Fahad Aldosari, Sayed Musawir Hussain

Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Received 24 January 2016; revised 5 April 2016; accepted 11 April 2016

KEYWORDS Abstract This study aimed to explore fish consumption behavior and fish farming attitude of the Fish consumption; Saudi households in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The survey was conducted in Sharurah Fish farming; town situated in Najran province. The data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire Attitude; from 100 respondents residing in the province. Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to see the Intentions; significant and non-significant impact of the two variables. The results showed that majority (37%) Saudi Arabia; of the respondents fell in the age group of 25–34 and majority (35%) of the respondents have high Aquaponics level of education i.e. up to university level. The results also depicted that majority (31%) of the people consume fish and were aware of the nutritional value of fish. However, majority (85%) of the respondents were not satisfied by the fish price. The results further indicated that none of the respondent was engaged in fish farming activity i.e. they had no fish farms at their homes. Further- more, majority (83%) respondents had no intentions to start fish farming at their homes in future. The study concludes that fish consumption and preference is high in the study area and people prefer fish more than chicken and meat for consumption purposes because of their knowledge regarding the nutritional value of fish. However, the age and educational level have negative impact on the respondent’s opinion about fish price in the study area. The study recommends that proper policies should be formulated to educate people about fish farming (aquaponics) and its importance through fisheries extension services to enhance the interest of people in fish farming. Ó 2016 The Authors. Production and Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +966 599024955. Fish is an important source of animal protein in many coun- E-mail addresses: [email protected], abdulqaderkhan@ksu. tries. Some countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and the edu.sa (A.Q. Khan). Solomon Islands depend on ﬁsh for above half of their animal Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University. protein consumption (Kawarazuka, 2010). Yet, in latest years a crisis has developed worldwide in ﬁsh resource (Watson et al., 2014). According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the Production and hosting by Elsevier United Nations (FAO), the global per capita consumption of http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.04.003 1658-077X Ó 2016 The Authors. Production and Hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

fishery products was approximately 18.9 kg in 2011 with 1. To examine the fish consumption pattern and preferences an average annual growth rate of 1.62% from 2001 to of Saudi households in the study area. 2011 (FAO, 2014). Increase in rate of fishing is followed 2. To determine future intentions of the respondents about in many different cultures comprising both rural and fish farming in the study area. urban areas (Bienenfeld et al., 2003). However, the supply 3. To provide suggestions and recommendations for future of fish worldwide is reduced in recent years (Watson et al., policy implementation. 2014). Fish provides protein, vitamins and different nutrients to its consumers which are necessary to human health (Sun, 2008) 2. Methodology and globally fish represents about 16.6 percent of animal protein supply and 6.5 percent of all protein for human consump- 2.1. Universe of the study/study area tion (FAO, 2012a,b). Globally, fisheries or aquaculture farming provides employment opportunities and hence an The study was conducted in Sharurah town situated in Najran important source of uplifting the socio-economic status. An province, Saudi Arabia. Sharurah is a desert city and is situ- estimation of 660 and 880 million people depends totally or ated in the southwestern edge of the Empty Quarter Desert. partly on aquaculture as a basis of earning and livelihood It is called the bride of Empty Quarter. It is considered to be (Allison et al., 2013). the new gateway to Saudi Arabia for those coming from the Aquaculture development in dry environmental conditions Republic of Yemen and is Located by latitude and longitude such as desert lands needs adoption of production technologies (17.28 N and 47.06 E). It is about 360 km away from east of that focus on water management practices and introduction of Najran with an estimated population of 85,977 inhabitants modern aquaculture technologies such as recirculation system at the 2010 Census. It has several villages and centers including principally if high density aquaculture is technically and eco- Alwadeah, Alakhashim, Tamani, Sultana, Umm Gharib, and nomically reasonable. This system typically needs a small area Umm Ghowair. and is enormously effective with usage of water having production of fish up-to 50 kg/m3 of water (Kolkovski et al., 2013). 2.2. Data collection Aquaculture sector can contribute to overcoming decrease in food security. Globally, this sector is the fastest source of providing animal food, overtaking terrestrial production of meat The present study provided information regarding fish con- and capture fisheries (FAO, 2002). sumption behavior and fish farming attitude of Saudi people Saudi Arabia with an area of 2.15 million km2 is an arid in KSA. For conducting this research, a fish consumption sur- and water deficit country with limited fresh water supplies. vey was carried out by interviewing the respondents at fish The Kingdom is a desert like country lying within the conti- sites, markets and malls in 2015. The respondents were selected nental zone where temperatures are high in summer and low through purposive sampling method and interview was con- in winter. It is also characterized by low annual rainfall and ducted in Arabic by the interviewer. The questionnaire was lacks perennial rivers or permanent ponds of water. The cli- phrased in a very simple and straight Arabic language avoiding matic conditions pose a continual challenge, as does the deple- technical and scientific terms. The overall number of respon- tion of underground water resources. Due to an acute deficit, dents for the interview was 100 out of which 80 were males water has always been an extremely valuable resource and and 20 females. occupies the prominent and prime position among the natural resources of the Kingdom. Although water is a renewable 2.3. Data analysis resource, yet its availability is extremely low to the society. In the situation, there is a tremendous pressure on the existing Data acquired through survey were coded, entered into SPSS water resources due to an increase in population, and the rising (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and screened for errors living standards of the civil society (FAO, 2009). Scarcity of prior to analysis (Nie et al., 1975). All the variables were freshwater confirms that fish farming is the future for fulfilling clearly defined and labeled. SPSS-21 was used for data analy- Saudi’s future fish-food demand, especially fish farming pro- sis. Both descriptive and inferential statistical tools were duction along the Red Sea coast. employed to analyze the data. For summarizing demographic Saudi Arabia is the most populous country in the Gulf characteristics and perception of the respondents, descriptive Cooperation Council (GCC) region having approximately 30 statistics such as frequency distribution was used and Pearson million people with a long coastline and warm water inlets that Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationship are perfectly suitable for aquaculture. The aquaculture in the between the dependent and independent variables. Kingdom initiated in 1980s since the Ministry of Agriculture recognized its importance because of the favorable conditions for fish farming (FAO, 2010). Even though fish is not actually 3. Results and discussion a primary food of the Saudi diet, demand for fresh fish is on the rise. Annual fish consumption per capita enhanced from It has been revealed in diverse researches conducted on differ- 3 kg in 1977 to 6.5 kg in 1998 and touching around 8 kg in ent social problems that age has positive or negative influence 2007. In 2010 per capita supply is just 11.5 kg in the country on the behavior of the individuals as indicated by (Siddiqui (FAO, 2012a,b). et al., 2003). Age determines the response of a person through The present study aimed to investigate the fish consumption different undertakings in his/her life. Rational discussion mak- behavior and fish farming attitude in the Kingdom of Saudi ing process also depends on age. Rendering to different reports Arabia with the following objectives: and research findings, it has been agreed upon that age and

Please cite this article in press as: Khan, A.Q. et al., Fish consumption behavior and fish farming attitude in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.04.003 Fish consumption behavior and fish farming attitude in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) 3 creativity and adoptability are positively correlated. In other cation, they were aware about the nutritional value of fish and words, the younger is a person, the more rapid will be his/ hence consumption of fish was higher. Verbeke and Vackier her adoptability and responsiveness to any activity, particu- (2005) stated in their study that higher education resulted in larly, in communication and understanding. Table 1 shows more intention to eat fish. Our results are not in agreement that majority of the respondents 37% fell in the age group with those of the findings of Burger et al. (2014) who observed of 35–44. This was the dominant age of the respondents in in their study that 3.7% of the Saudi males and 4.3% females the study area followed by 26% having less than 25 years of do not eat fish. age whereas, 24% fell in the age group of 35–44, 8% in the Table 4 reveals that all of the respondents do not have fish age group of 45–54 and 5% fell in the age group of 55–64 farm at their homes i.e. they were not engaged in fish farming. respectively. From the table it is clear that most of the study The reason for this was that the respondents had no technical respondents in the area were young. knowhow about fish farming in the study area. Moreover, only Education plays an important role in the adoption of any- 17% respondents had intentions to start fish farming at homes thing as literate people are more capable as related to the illit- in future whereas majority 83% had no intentions to start fish erate who are more conventional/orthodox. Table 2 shows that farming at their homes. Fish farming or aquaponics at home majority of the respondents 35% were having qualification up can provide food on daily basis as indicated by Diver (2006) to university level and 35% up to high school level. Moreover, that a small scale aquaponics system in the backyard of a Bar- only 5% respondents were illiterate in the study area. It shows badian family can provide fresh food on daily basis for a long that the overall literacy level in the study area was time and also can promote local food production and can sup- encouraging. port the local economy. Furthermore, the data shows that Table 3 depicts frequency of monthly fish consumption by majority respondents 85% were not satisfied by fish price in the respondents. It was found that 12% of the respondents the market whereas only 15% said that the price is reasonable. do not eat fish in a month whereas majority people that is As most of the seafood in the Kingdom is imported from other 31% eat fish once in a month, 21% twice, 13% thrice, 18% countries, the prices of this seafood are high. According to four times and 5% eat fish mostly in a month. As it is clear that Nahab et al. (2011) fish consumption differs obviously as a most of the respondents in the study area were of high qualifi- function of ethnicity, age, income and a variety of additional reasons. Fish is considered as an important source of nutritional Table 1 Age wise distribution of respondents. food for human. The data given in Table 5 depicts that majority of the respondents 81% stated that fish is better for health, Age group Percentage whereas 11% stated red meat and only 8% stated chicken is Less than 25 26 better for health. The reason for this maybe that most of the 25–34 37 respondents were aware of the nutritional value of fish because 35–44 24 of their high level of education and hence preferred fish more 45–54 8 as compared to red meat and chicken. According to Trondsen 55–64 5 et al. (2003) that fish consumption behavior differs with opin- Total 100 ions about personal weight, health and income. Table 6 reveals that most of the respondents that is 53% preferred to cook and eat fish in frying manner followed by 40% respondents who preferred barbecue type whereas, 3% Table 2 Distribution of the respondents on the basis of educational level. Table 4 Distribution of the respondents regarding fish farm at Educational level Percentage home, intentions to have fish farm at home in future and fish Illiterate 5 price. Elementary 11 Respondent’s intention/attitude Yes No Secondary 11 % % High School 35 University 35 Do you have fish farm at home? 0 100 Post Graduate 3 Intentions of the respondents to have fish farm at 17 83 home in future Total 100 Is fish price reasonable? 15 85

Table 3 Frequency of ﬁsh consumption by the respondents per month.

Fish consumption per month Percentage Table 5 Which is better for health? Never 12 Type of meat Percentage Once a month 31 Two times a month 21 Red meat 11 Three times a month 13 Fish 81 Four times a month 18 Chicken 8 Mostly 5 Total 100 Total 100

than chicken and red meat. However, most of them were not Table 6 Which is the best way for cooking fish? satisfied by the fish price in the market and stated fish prices Way of cooking fish Percentage very high. The study also concludes that fish farming was Barbecue 40 not adopted by any respondent at his home. However, some Frying 53 respondents showed their interest to start fish farming at their Normal cooking 3 homes in future. As aquaculture plays a significant role in Dislike 4 worldwide to eradicate lack of food and undernourishment Total 100 by providing fish and other marine products that are rich in protein, necessary fatty acids, vitamins and minerals and can also make substantial contributions to development by improving incomes, providing employment opportunities and Table 7 Pearson correlation between consumer preferences/ enhancing the returns on resource use, it is highly recom- attitude and demographic characteristics. mended that the fisheries department should provide better Variable Age Educational training and extension services to the people about fish farm- (years) level ing (aquaponics) that would improve the profitability of fish How many times you eat fish in a month? 0.201* .213* production. The aquaponics will be a suitable practice of pro- Is the price of fish reasonable? À.018* À.067 ducing fish in the Kingdom because it could provide food Do you have intentions to have fish farm À.174 .197* throughout the whole year in arid climatic areas such as at home in future? KSA where water and soil resources are limited. It is thus essential to offer government support for sustainable fish farm- * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. ing in the Kingdom. There is also a need to check and balance the fish prices by responsible authorities in the market as well. preferred normal cooking and 4% stated that they dislike fish. The reason for preferring frying method by most respondents References was due to its easier method of cooking and also most of the nutrients are not wasted by this method. Allison, E.H., Delaporte, A., Hellebrandt de Silva, D., 2013. The data in Table 7 show the correlation between demo- Integrating Fisheries Management and Aquaculture Development with Food Security and Livelihoods for the Poor. Report Submit- graphic characteristics such as age and educational level and ted to the Rockefeller Foundation, School of International dependent variables such as fish consumption per month, fish Development, University of East Anglia Norwich, UK. 124 p. price and intentions to have fish farm at home in future. It Bienenfeld, L.A., Golden, A.L., Garland, E.J., 2003. Consumption of shows that age and education have positive and significant fish from polluted waters by WIC participants in East Harlem. J. impact on fish consumption per month. The reason for this Urban Health 80 (2), 349–358. is that the people with more age and education have more Burger, J., Gochfeld, M., Batang, Z., Alikunhi, N., Al-Jahdali, R., Al- knowledge about the product quality, safety and nutritional Jebreen, D., Al-Suwailem, A., 2014. Fish consumption behavior value of the fish. Olsen (2003) examined the relationship and rates in native and non-native people in Saudi Arabia. Environ. between consumer’s age and seafood consumption in the Uni- Res. 133, 141–148. ted States and found that age was positively related to the fre- Diver, S., 2006. Aquaponics—Integration of Hydroponics with Aquaculture: ATTRA—National Sustainable Agriculture Infor- quency of seafood consumption. Furthermore, it is clear from mation Service (National Center for Appropriate Technology). the table that age and educational level have negative impact FAO, 2002. The State of World Fisheries and Agriculture. FAO, on respondent’s opinion about fish price. Pethiyagoda and Rome, p. 150. Olsen (2012) attempted to explain fish consumption behavior FAO, 2009. Saudi Arabia. Irrigation in the Middle East regions in in Sri Lanka, focusing on the impacts of consumer attitude, figures. Aquastat Survey – 2008. FAO Land and Water Division convenience orientation, knowledge, variety seeking and price Report 34. In: Karen, Freken (Ed.). Food and Agriculture consciousness. The results showed a positive relationship Organization of the United Nations, Rome, pp 325–337. between attitude and fish consumption, insignificant relation- FAO, 2010. National Aquaculture Sector Overview. Kingdom of ship between product knowledge and consumption frequency Saudi Arabia. National Aquaculture Sector Overview Fact Sheets. and negative relationship between price consciousnesses and Text by Anwar Essa Al-Sunaiher. In: FAO Fisheries and Aqua- culture Department Rome. fish consumption. Table 7 further shows that age has negative FAO, 2012a. FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics Year Book. and non-significant impact but educational level has positive FAO, Rome, Italy. and significant impact on intention to have fish farm at home FAO, 2012b. The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012. in future. FAO, Rome. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, 2014. 4. Conclusion and recommendations FAOSTAT, updated: 26 May 2014. Downloaded from . Kawarazuka, N., 2010. The contribution of fish intake, aquaculture, This study is an exploratory research using a survey method to and small-scale fisheries to improving food and nutrition security: a examine the fish consumption behavior and fish farming atti- literature review. World Fish Center Working Paper, 2106. tude in KSA. The survey was carried out in Sharurah town sit- Kolkovski, I., Simon, Y., Hulata, G., Kolkovski, C., Ayaril, N., 2013. uated in Najran province. It is concluded from the research Desert aquaculture. Aquaculture, second ed., pp. 107–125. findings that majority of the people consumes fish in their diet Nahab, F., Le, A., Judd, S., Frankel, M.R., Ard, J., Newby, P.K., per month. They also preferred fish as important source of Howard, V.J., 2011. Racial and geographic differences in fish nutrition for their health and the consumption rate was higher consumption The REGARDS Study. Neurology 76 (2), 154–158.

Nie, N.H., Bent, D.H., Hull, C.H., 1975. In: SPSS: Statistical Package Sun, Y.H.C., 2008. Health concern, food choice motives, and attitudes for the Social Sciences, vol. 227. McGraw-Hill, New York. toward healthy eating: the mediating role of food choice motives. Olsen, S.O., 2003. Understanding the relationship between age and Appetite 51 (1), 42–49. seafood consumption: the mediating role of attitude, health Trondsen, T., Scholderer, J., Lund, E., Eggen, A.E., 2003. Perceived involvement and convenience. Food Qual. Prefer. 14 (3), 199–209. barriers to consumption of fish among Norwegian women. Pethiyagoda, N.A., Olsen, S.O., 2012. Explaining fish consumption Appetite 41 (3), 301–314. behavior in Sri-Lanka: the role of consideration set size, attitude, Verbeke, W., Vackier, I., 2005. Individual determinants of fish knowledge, convenience orientation, price consciousness, and consumption: application of the theory of planned behaviour. variety seeking tendency. Trop. Agric. Res. Ext. 15 (3). Appetite 44 (1), 67–82. Siddiqui, B.N., Hassan, M.Z.Y., Asif, F., Iqbal, S., Bajwa, M.S., Watson, R., Zeller, D., Pauly, D., 2014. Primary productivity demands Malik, N.A., 2003. Awareness adoption and reasons for non- of global fishing fleets. Fish Fish. 15 (2), 231–241. adoption of apple growers with regard to recommended horticul- tural practices. Pak. J. Appl. Sci. 3 (3), 182–184.