SOCIO-CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POULTRY FARMERS IN THREE  STATE OF SOUTHERN NIGERIA

C. P. Ukwu; U. C. Ezetoha; I. E. Eze; H. O. Obikaonu; M. C. Uchegbu; I. C. Okoli

doi:10.51791/njap.vi.5147

Authors

C. P. Ukwu Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
U. C. Ezetoha Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
I. E. Eze Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
H. O. Obikaonu Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
M. C. Uchegbu Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
I. C. Okoli Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526 Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.5147

Keywords:

Farmers, poultry, animal agriculture, southern Nigeria

Abstract

This study reports socio-cultural characteristics of poultry farmers in three southern states of Nigeria: Imo, Akwa Ibom and Oyo states. Fifteen poultry farmers were sampled in each state with the aid of well structure questionnaires, making a total of 45 respondents. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies and percentages. Gender distribution of the farmers was 66.67% for male and 33.33% for female. The highest number of respondents were within 31- 40 years’ age bracket (46.63%), followed by the age group of 41-50 years (22.10%). The results showed that 82.20% of the respondents were married, had formal education up to secondary school level, with 66.60% of them being educated up to tertiary level although most of them in the south east studied courses not related to animal agriculture, while all the graduate respondents of south-south zone studied agriculture and animal production related courses. Many of the poultry farmers (42.20%) had 6 - 10 years’ experience in the industry, while another 20.00% had 11-15 years’ experience. It was concluded that poultry farmers in Southern Nigeria have formal education they are likely to properly evaluate various production factors and make the appropriate decisions on adoption of modern and recent technologies in poultry production, thus making the dissemination of poultry farming improvement information in the zone easy.