Factors influencing the Environmental and Financial Sustainability of Aquaculture Production in Jamaica

Curtis M. Jolly, Carel Ligeon and Nathanael Hishamunda

No 187235, 29th West Indies Agricultural Economics Conference, July 17-21, 2011, Saint Vincent, West Indies from Caribbean Agro-Economic Society

Abstract: We use the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) to evaluate the profitability and sustainability of aquaculture in Jamaica. We also examine the combined application of these methods to provide holistic and reliable information. In March 2010 we administered the AHP and the CBA survey instruments among 27 Jamaicans engaged in large- and medium-scale tilapia production and marketing. The overall ranking of criteria is reliable, with an inconsistency ratio (IR) of 0.075. Participants classified ‘better feed conversion ratio’ as their first criteria for increasing profitability and sustainability, with a rank score (RC) of 0.050. In second and third places were ‘decreased disease problems’ and ‘decreased mortality,’ with RCs of 0.036 and 0.031, respectively. The net operating income ($33,103.05), the IRR of 30.36% and P.I of 1.55 shows that tilapia production is profitable and feasible. When participants’ preferences of methods for improving fish production and marketing from the AHP results were considered, fish production and marketing in Jamaica became more profitable and sustainable. The results show that the AHP method provides unique ranking of stakeholders’ preferences and, when combined with the CBA, generates solid analyses for evaluating the profitability and sustainability of aquaculture enterprises.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:cars11:187235

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.187235

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