Theodore Osakpolor OSARENORIABE

Egg consumption plays a crucial role in maintaining a balanced. Students' food choices are often influenced by socio-economic factors, price fluctuations, and availability of alternative protein sources. Despite the nutritional benefits of eggs, limited studies have examined demand for egg and the determinants of consumption among university undergraduates in Nigeria. Hence this study was conducted to examine egg demand among undergraduate students at the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. To achieve this, the specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of egg consumers, evaluate the level of egg consumption relative to other animal protein sources, determine the nature of eggs consumed, and identify key factors influencing egg consumption. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 100 students from 219 400 students of the 6 departments consisting of AEE, AFM, ANS, CRS, FWM and SLM. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study.the primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The secondary data were obtained from journals, articles, textbooks and the internet. The results indicated that over half of egg consumers were female (56%), while the other half were male (44%) with a mean age of 23 years and majority within the age bracket of 21-25 years (79%). Majority of undergraduate consumers resided off campus (76%). The mean budget share for egg consumption was 0.38, x making it the most consumed protein source followed by fish (0.25), beef (0.15), chicken (0.10), and milk (0.10). Egg consumption was highest among students in the Forestry and Wildlife Management (0.44), Crop Science (0.43), and Animal Science (0.39) departments, with the lowest consumption recorded in Soil and Land Management students (0.31). Regression analysis revealed that egg consumption was significantly influenced by the price of substitute protein source. An increase in beef prices also led to decreased egg consumption, confirming complementary effects. Furthermore, total protein expenditure was a key determinant of egg consumption indicating that students who spent more on protein allocated a larger portion of their budgets to eggs. Gender was also significant with male students spending more on eggs than female students. However, the prices of eggs, milk, fish, chicken, and pork were not significant predictors, implying that prices of these protein sources do not strongly influence students' egg consumption patterns. The study recommends that universities promote awareness campaigns on the nutritional benefits of eggs and other protein sources to encourage balanced diets and egg consumption. Policymakers should work towards stabilizing egg prices to enhance affordability for students. Additionally, university food vendors should ensure the availability of eggs in various forms to cater to students' dietary preferences.