Socio-economic characteristics of ruminant livestock farmers and their production constraints in some parts of South-western Nigeria

摘要

Atotaloffivehundredfarmersrandomlyselectedfromtenvillagesweresurveyedtoexaminethesocio-economiccharacteristicsofruminantlivestockfarmersandconstraintstoruminantlivestockproductioninsomepartsofsouth-westernNigeria.Seventypercentofthefarmersweremalesandabout50percentwerebetween51and60years.Thestudyrevealedthattraditional/ceremonialuseoftheanimals,pestsanddiseaseproblemsandcostsofproductiondonothavesignificanteffectsonlivestockproduction.However,availabilityofinputsandextensionservicesweresignificantfactorstobeconsideredintheproductionofruminantlivestock.Thirtypercentofthefarmersclaimedthattheyusefarmandhomeremnantstofeedtheiranimals.Theresultsofthestudythereforeshowthatthereisneedfortheeffectiveimplementationofpoliciesonadequateinputsupplytothefarmersaswellasimprovedextensionservicestoenhancetheproductionofruminantlivestockinsomepartsofsouth-westernNigeria.