1 2 3 ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING POULTRY EGG PRODUCTION AMONG POULTRY FARMERS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA. 4 5 ABSTRACT 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Poultry production is no doubt one of the important ways of alleviating the scourge of protein deficiency in Nigeria and other developing countries. Specifically, poultry eggs are rich source of high quality protein. Despite the importance of poultry eggs, majority of farmers in the rural areas find it difficult to meet up the recommended nutritional requirement especially protein. It was on this basis that this study aims at analysing the socio-economic factors influencing poultry egg production among farmers in Ondo state. The main objective of the study was to determine the factors that influence poultry egg production. The study was carried out in five (5) Local Government Areas (LGA) of Ondo State. Purposive sampling was used to select the LGA while random sampling was used to select 60 poultry farms from the LGA. Data were collected by the use of structured questionnaire which was administered to 60 poultry egg farmers in the study area. Multiple regression was used to analyse the data collected for the study. The study revealed that number of layers (X₈) significantly influenced poultry egg production at P 0.01 level of probability; level of education (X₂) and years of experience (X₃) significantly influenced it at P 0.05 level of probability while access to credit facilities (X₅) was significant at P 0.1 level of probability. The result of the study showed that these variables significantly influence poultry egg production in the study area. Therefore, the study recommended that poultry egg farmers should be linked to financial institutions in order to have access to credit through extension agents so as to improve on their poultry farms. Also adult literacy classes for farmers with low education should be organized by the LGA as this will help the farmers to understand better the 1
25 26 innovation introduced to them as regards poultry egg production. It will also help them to make good management decisions. Level of experience was also significant; hence the study 27 28 recommends that farmers should have improve on their production. good knowledge of poultry egg production in order to 29 30 Key words: Factors, farmers, production, poultry egg, socio-economics, Ondo-state, Nigeria. 31 1. INTRODUCTION 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Agriculture is the mainstay of Nigeria s economy. It employs about 70% of the total labour force. It contributed 42% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007 and provided 88% of non-oil earnings (Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 2008). The report from CBN (2008) also showed increase in livestock share of the GDP from 33% in 2006 to 35% in 2008 and poultry played a significant role in this increase. Poultry production is the process of rearing birds domestically mainly for the supply of poultry meat and eggs for human consumption. Poultry production in Nigeria has been one of the most popular enterprises adopted by small and medium scale farmers in both rural and urban centres. It is one of the major subsectors in Nigerian agricultural industry which supply protein, lipids and vitamins of high zoological value to man (Bamiro et al., 2006). Poultry egg, apart from supplying protein is also a good source of high energy nutrient to the ever increasing Nigerian population, thereby significantly contributing to human nutrition and economic development. In spite of the immense contributions of the poultry industry to the national economy, the subsector is facing challenges such as low egg production, diseases and pest, poor quality of ingredients used in manufacture of feed, supply of poor quality chicks, high feed cost, insufficient capital, inadequate access to and high cost of veterinary services of ingredients (Adeyemo and Onikoyi, 2012). 47 48 49 There was economic boom in Nigeria in the poultry sector from a modest estimate of 0.7million exotic breeds of chicken in 1963, to an estimated 40million in 1983 ( CBN, 2008). The increasing growth rate was affected by crisis which rocked the sector in the middle to late 1980 s where highly escalated prize of 2
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 poultry inputs such as drugs, feed and equipment was experienced. According to CBN (2008), this led to the withdrawal of many poultry farmers from production. In addition, the sector rapidly witnessed growth again with an estimated poultry population of 72million out of which about 86% were traditionally managed and 14% commercially managed. The ban on importation of poultry products by Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has also caused a turnaround growth in poultry which grew by 10% in 2004 as compared to 0.3% in 2003 (Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic (AICP), 2013). Veterinary services also enhanced a lot of improvement in poultry production. With the global spread of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) across several countries since 2003 and especially the confirmation of the epidemic in Nigeria in February, 2006, there is a new attention focused on the sub-sector by the Government of Nigerian (GON) and international community (Daniel, 2009). Poverty has diverse economic and social dimension that explains its manifestations in lack of income and insufficient productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihood. Poverty indicators include hunger and malnutrition among others, ( Agumagu, 2000). Majority of farmers in rural areas experience high level of poverty, and thus find it difficult to meet up with the recommended nutritional requirement especially protein. 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 Hunger and malnutrition remain among the most devastating problems facing these farmers ( Agumagu, 2000). The food insecurity report by FAO in 2002 estimated that 799million people in 98 developing nations are not getting enough food to live normal, healthy and active lives, and most farmers in developing countries fall under this category (FAO, 2002). The protein intake of the average farmer is abysmally low due to poverty. For instance the British medical association recommends a minimum animal protein intake of 34g per capita per day. Also the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations recommends 20g of animal protein per capita per day as the minimum for consumption for developing countries (Okuneye and Banwo, 2003) but 75g as optimum for normal growth and development. However, the average animal protein intake per capita per day in Nigeria was mere 7.6g, that is 38% of the FAO minimum requirement for developing countries and a mere 10% for excellent growth and development (Olayemi and Robert, 2000). Although egg contains about 74% water, they are rich source of high quality protein. A single egg contains about 8g of protein. In this regard, the study 3
77 78 79 80 determined the socio-economic factors influencing poultry egg production. It is hoped that the findings of this study will aid policy makers to develop policies addressing poultry egg production in the study area. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the socio-economic factors influencing poultry egg production among poultry farmers in Ondo State Nigeria. 81 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 82 2.1 Description of the Study Area 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 The study was carried out in Ondo State, situated in the South Western Nigeria. Ondo State is one of the six states that make up South Western Nigeria. Ondo state lies between latitude 5 45' and 8 15' North of the equator and longitude 4 30' and 6 East of the Greenwich meridian. The state covers a land area of 14,793,189 square kilometres with its administrative capital at Akure and a population of 3,441,024 according to the Nigeria population census of 2006. Ondo state is made up of 18 Local Government Areas. It is located entirely within the tropics and is bounded in the north by Ekiti and Kogi States, in the east by Edo State, on the west by Osun and Ogun states and in the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Agriculture is the dominant occupation of the people, in addition to this the people are involved in trading, lumbering activities and civil service works but the people in the riverine area are predominantly fishermen (Bola, 2010) 4
93 94 Figure 1: Map of Nigeria and Ondo State Showing the study areas. 95 96 2.2 Sampling Procedure and Sample Size 97 98 99 Purposive sampling was used to select five (5) Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state due to the high number of poultry egg farms. Within these selected Local Government Areas, random sampling was used in selecting poultry egg farms from each. Akoko North East LGA, Akure South LGA, Owo LGA, 5
100 Ondo West LGA and Ondo East LGA have 13, 22, 13, 16, and 11 registered poultry egg farms 101 102 respectively ( Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic (AICP), 2013). A total of 80% registered farms in each local government was selected which made a total of 60 poultry egg farms. 103 2.3 Data Analysis 104 105 Primary data was used for this study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire which were distributed to the respondents. Multiple Regression analysis was used to analyse data for this study. 106 The Multiple Regression model is expressed as follows: 107 Y = a + B₁ X₁ + B₂ X₂ + B₃ X₃ B₈ X₈ + u 108 Where:- 109 Y = Number of eggs (in crates) 110 X₁ = Age (in years) 111 X₂ = Level of education (primary = 0, secondary =1, tertiary = 2, no formal education = 3) 112 X₃ = Farmer s experience (in years) 113 X₄ = Membership of Cooperative Society (no = 0, yes = 1) 114 X₅ = Access to credit facilities (no = 0, yes = 1) 115 X₆ = Access to Veterinary Service (no = 0, yes = 1,) 116 X₇ = Access to Extension Services (no = 0, yes = 1) 117 X₈ = Number of layers 118 a = Constant 119 B₁ - B₈ = regression coefficients 6
120 u = error term 121 2.4 Hypothesis 122 123 There is no significant influence made by the socioeconomic factors on poultry egg production in Ondo State. 124 3. RESULTS AND EXPLANATION 125 3.1 Determination of Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Poultry Egg Production 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 In order to determine socio-economic factors influencing poultry egg production, Multiple Regression analysis was used. The socio-economic factors were Age (X 1 ), Level of Education (X₂), farmer s experience (X₃), Membership of Cooperative Society (X₄), Access to credit facilities (X₅), Access to veterinary services (X₆), Access to extension Services (X₇), and Number of layers (X₈). The result of the regression analysis (Table 1) showed that four out of the eight variables were significant. The number of layers (X₈) was significant at P 0.01 level of probability; level of education (X₂) and years of experience (X₃) were significant at P 0.05 level of probability while access to credit facilities (X₅) was significant at P 0.1 level of probability. 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 The level of education (X₂) had a positive coefficient (77.844). This implies that a unit increase in the level of education of the respondent will lead to increase poultry egg production. This could be because education helps the farmers to understand better the innovation introduced to them as regard poultry egg production and also help them to make sound and useful economic and managerial decisions. Years of experience (X₃) also showed positive coefficient (24.400). This indicates that increase in years of experience of the respondent will result to high poultry egg production. This could be because with more experience, the farmer is likely to manage the farm better. Similarly access to credit facilities (X₅) had a 141 positive coefficient ( 95.811). Meaning that as access to credit facilities by respondents increases, 142 143 poultry egg production will increase. This is probably because access to credit helps farmers to finance technological and capital improvement on their farms and thus improve production. Number of layers (X₈) 7
144 145 showed positive coefficient too. This implies that a unit increase in the number of layers will lead to increase in poultry egg production. 146 147 148 149 150 R-square value (R²) was 87% meaning that 87% of the total variation in the socio-economic factors influencing poultry egg production was explained by the dependent variables. Variables such as membership of cooperative society (X₄), access to veterinary (X₆) services, access to extension services (X₈), Farmers age (X₁) though related to poultry egg production was not significant at P 0.01, P 0.05 and P 0.1 all levels of probability. 151 152 153 Hence, from the result stated above, the null hypothesis that there is no significant influence made by the socio-economic factors on poultry egg production in Ondo State, was rejected and the alternative was accepted. 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 8
165 166 Table 1: Multiple regression analysis showing the socio-economic factors influencing poultry egg poultry egg production among farmers. Variables Coefficients Std. Error t Value Sig. 167 (Constant) -143.415 197.695-0.725 0.471 168 Age (X₁) -5.826 4.683-1.244 0.219 169 Level of Education (X₂) 77.844 37.017 2.103** 0.008 170 Level of experience (in years) (X₃) 24.400 10.528 2.299** 0.006 171 Membership of any Cooperative Society (X₄) 71.926 85.144 0.845 0.402 172 Access to credit facilities (X₅) 95.811 54.593 1.755* 0.089 173 Access to veterinary services (X₆) 59.735 143.835 0.415 0.680 174 Access to extension Services (X₇) 16.325 79.00 0.207 0.856 175 Number Of layers (X₈) 0.169 0.012 13.563*** 0.000 176 R square = 0.874 177 F value = 44.344 178 Adjusted R = 0.855 *** Significant at 1%. **Significant at 5%. *Significant at 10% 179 180 4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 181 182 Data analysis revealed that socio-economic factors have a significant influence on poultry egg production among farmers. Variables such as number of layers (X₈) was significant at P 0.01 level of probability, 9
183 184 185 186 187 188 level of education (X₂) was significant at P 0.05 level of probability, farmer s experience (X₃) was also significant at P 0.05 level of probability and access to credit facilities (X₅) was significant at P 0.1 level of probability. These variables (number of layers, level of education, farmer s experience and access to credit facilities) had positive coefficients indicating that a unit increase in any of these variables will lead to increase in poultry egg production. Therefore, these variables significantly influence poultry egg production in the study area. 189 190 191 192 193 194 The study recommended that extension agents should link poultry egg farmers to financial institutions in order to have access to credit. This will help to improve on their poultry farms in terms of management of the farms and the output. Also adult literacy classes for farmers with low education should be organized by the Local Government Areas to enable the farmers understand better the innovation introduced to them as regards poultry egg production. Farmers should also be encouraged to start with large number of birds in order to reduce the risk of death and to have higher output with good management. 195 196 COMPETEING INTERSESTS Competing interests do not exist in this work 197 REFERENCES 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 1. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (2008). CBN Statistical Bulletin, CBN Publication. 2. Bamiro, O. M., Phillip, D. O. A, and Momoh, S. (2006). Vertical Integration and Technical Efficiency in Poultry (Egg) Industry in Ogun and Oyo States, Nigeria. International Journal of Poultry Science. 5 (12). 1164-1171. 3. Adeyemo, A. A. and Onikoyi, M.P.. (2012). Prospects and Challenges of Large Scale Commercial Poultry Production in Nigeria. Agricultural Journal. 7: 388-393. 4. Daniel S.U. (2009). Base line of study of small and medium scale poultry production in Enugu and Lagos states. World Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 5 (1): 27-33 5. Agumagu, A. C. (2000). Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria. Spring Field Publisher Lagos. pp. 345 6. Food and Agriculture Organization (2002). Agricultural Extension. A Reference Manual, FAO Rome 7. Okuneye O. and Banwo B. (2003). Socio-Economic Factor Affecting Poultry Producers in Osun State. Journal of Human Ecology, Vol.18: 29-41 10
210 211 212 213 214 215 216 8. Olayemi J.A. and Robert, F. A.(2000). Poultry Production in Warm-Wet Climate. Inaugural Lecture Delivered at Federal University of Abeokuta, Nigeria. 9. Bola O. (2010). Profile of Ondo State. Accessed on 12 th May, 2012. Available: www.coastalnews.com. 10. Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic (AICP) Nigeria (2013). List of Registered Poultry Farms in Ondo State. 2013. Accessed on 12th May, Available: http://aicpnigeria.org/communication/ondo.htm 217 11