Cold-storage infrastructure is critical for reducing post-harvest deterioration in fish value chains, yet access among small-scale vendors is often constrained by energy, enterprise and product characteristics. This study identified factors associated with cold-storage access and post-harvest cold-technology use among small-scale fish vendors in Lagos State, Nigeria. Respondent-level data from a cross-sectional survey of 63 vendors were reanalyzed to address a distinct secondary research question. Cold-storage access was defined as access to at least one refrigerator, freezer, or cold room. Post-harvest cold-technology use was defined as reported use of icing, chilled/refrigerated storage, freezing, or cold-room storage for at least one fish species. Exact bivariate tests and Firth bias-reduced logistic regression were used because several predictor-outcome combinations exhibited complete or quasi-complete separation. Seventeen vendors (27.0%) had cold-storage access and 23 (36.5%) used at least one cold-chain technology. Cold-storage access occurred among 70.8% of tilapia sellers but none of the non-tilapia sellers, and among 73.9% of vendors with regular or alternative power access but none without power access (both exact p<0.001). Vendors with more than 10 years of fish-marketing experience also had higher unadjusted cold-storage access (44.4% vs. 13.9%; p=0.010). In the bias-reduced multivariable model, tilapia marketing (adjusted OR=148.14; 95% CI: 4.79–4578.85; p=0.004) and power access (adjusted OR=179.49; 95% CI: 6.99–4607.62; p=0.002) were independently associated with cold-storage access, although the confidence intervals were wide due to sparse cells. For cold-technology use, tilapia marketing remained the dominant adjusted correlate (adjusted OR = 96.91; 95% CI: 10.32–910.16; p < 0.001). The findings indicate that post-harvest technology access in Lagos fish markets is shaped strongly by species/product requirements and enabling energy infrastructure. Policies that expand affordable power and shared cold-storage services should therefore be aligned with the storage needs of specific fish products and vendor segments.

Keywords: cold storage, fish marketing, post-harvest technology, small-scale vendors, Lagos State, Firth logistic regression.