Management Skills in Fish Farming Needed by Retired Civil and Public Servants for Sustainable Income in Ebonyi State

Abstract

This study identified the management skills in fish farming needed by retired civil and public servants for sustainable income in Ebonyi State of Nigeria. The study was a survey research design. The population of the study was 33. It comprised of 10 lecturers and 2 technologists in the department of fisheries, 4 lecturers and 2 technologists in the Agricultural Education unit, Technology and Vocational Education, Ebonyi State University and 15 registered fish farmers in Ebonyi State. There was no sampling; the whole population was used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire which has four points rating scales of Highly Needed (HN), Averagely Needed (AV), Little Needed (LN), and Not Needed (NN). The instrument contained 32 items and was validated by 3 experts from the department of Fisheries in Ebonyi State University. The reliability of the instrument was determined by using Cronbach alpha technique to determine the internal consistency of the instruments which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.84. The data for the study was collected by the researcher personally visiting the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation while the t-test was used to test the hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significant. Based on the analysis of the data, the following results emanated; the retired civil and public servants need the management skills in pond construction, management skills in breeding of fish and maintenance of fish pond, management skills in preservation and storage of fish and fish products; and management skills in marketing and distribution of fish and fish products. It was discovered that there was no significant difference between the mean ratings of the registered fish farmers and the lecturers on management skills in breeding of fish, maintenance of fish pond, and management skills in marketing and distribution of fish and fish products. It was recommended among others that the Government of Ebonyi State should incorporate the identified skills into the training modules of the skills acquisition centre of the State and be used to train retired civil and public servants.

Keywords: Management: Skill: Fish Farming: Civil and Public Servants and Sustainable Income.