Demand For Selected Fruits Among Students Of A Tertiary Institution In Southwest Nigeria

Increased demand for fruits among students is pivotal to healthier lifestyles and better learning abilities. However, there is a paucity of information on elasticity of university students' demand for fruits in Nigeria. The demand for selected fruits among students of University of Ibadan, Nigeria, was therefore assessed in this study. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 300 respondents using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System model. A majority (65.3%) of the respondents were females, less than 20 years of age (51%), and were in either their first or second year of study. Only 40% of the students with less than N10,000 monthly stipends demanded for fruits daily. Own prices, age, sex, and stipends explained fruit demand among the students. Expenditure elasticities for pineapple (1.30), orange (1.21), banana (1.07), apple (1.38), and cucumber (1.16) indicated that the selected fruits were luxury goods while watermelon was a necessity good (0.67). Own-price elasticity of demand for all the selected fruits was inelastic while the cross-price elasticity revealed that most fruits complemented one another except for watermelon which was the only substitute to other fruits. The study therefore recommended increased students' stipends in order to drive daily fruit demand among the students of the tertiary institution.