ROLE OF CONSUMERS IN DRIED FISH MARKET  DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN SRI LANKA; A CASE OF CHOICE EXPERIMENT

Dried fish is the most popular form of processed fish consumed in Sri Lanka but the local production only satisfies 61% of the demand in the market. As a result Sri Lanka imports  fish and fishery products to satisfy the demand. However local producers claim that they have marketing challenges and very low prices for their products. This may be due to non - compliance of the product quality standards. However, there is a lack of consumer analysis on the Sri Lankan dried fish market. The aim of this study is therefore to analyze consumer choice and value chains for dried fish to provide suggestions for market improvement. A  consumer survey of 180 households; 60 households from each selected Divisional Secretariat division representing, urban, rural and estate sectors was conducted in Galle district of Sri Lanka. The choice card experiment was used. Ten dried fish producers were also interviewed using semi structured questionnaires and informal interviews. The results of the choice card experiment reveal that consumers prefer locally produced, sun dried and  quality certified dried fish. And the urban and rural consumers willing to pay a premium of 374.21 and 325.89 Sri Lankan Rupees respectively for 100 g of quality certified dried fish.  Sprat is the most preferred product in all sectors followed by Yellowfin tuna in urban and rural sectors and Bigeye scads in estate sector. With regards to organoleptic properties,  smell and the appearance are the highly considered factors. Seventy two percent (72%) of  consumers prefer fully dried and fresh appearance of the dried fish. Moreover, urban and rural consumers have moderate knowledge and awareness on quality and the nutritive value of dried fish while estate consumers have low knowledge. The results of the value chain analysis reveal that many producers sell their products to the wholesalers who visit to the processing site. Hence the producers have less awareness about the market. No value addition is identified in the supply chain except the processors. Results find that the producers get a low price due to the quality issues, lack of market information and the  availability of imported products. The consumers‟ choice analysis, suggests that product quality certificates will increase the market prices. Hence the study emphasizes the  importance on making the producers aware on  quality certification for dried fish and its market value.