The Empirical Economics Letters, 11(3): (March 2012) ISSN 1681 8997 Urban Households Meat Demand among Different Income Groups in Borno State, Nigeria Yakaka B. Maina Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Maiduguri Maiduguri, Borno State Nigeria Email yakakabkm@gmail.com Baba A. Bashir Lake Chad Research institute, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria K. Babagana and A.C. Iheanacho Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Maiduguri Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria Abstract: This study analyzed the demand for meat products among income groups using Almost Ideal Demand system (AIDS) model. Data for the study were obtained from 180 respondents, selected in six (6) wards through stratified random sampling, representing the three income groups, namely low, middle and high earning ≤ 15000, 15,001- 30,000 and ≥ 30,001 respectively. The findings from the study reveal that budget shares on ruminant meat increase in the middle income group especially for beef and mutton. Expenditure elasticity of demand is the highest for mutton in the middle income group. Own-price effect is greater on chevron meat item and on middle income group while cross-price elasticity shows that all meat items are luxuries and most meat items are complement with prevalence of substitutability between beef and mutton in the low and high income groups. Keywords: Urban Households, Almost Ideal Demand System, Ruminant Meat, Income Groups 1. Introduction Agriculture is still the mainstay of the majority of people in Nigeria, despite the discovery of crude oil in the 1970s. The livestock sector in Borno state contributes about 25 per cent to the total agricultural output of the country (Balami, et.al., 1999). Rearing of livestock and poultry has been an age old practice in Nigeria. Local feeds resources are prime importance for ruminants raised in the tropic particularly low-quality roughages and agricultural crop-residues (Sittisak and Wanapat, 2007).