Enterprise Combination in Livestock Sector in Southwestern, Nigeria

摘要

Abstract: This study examined the optimal combination of enterprises in livestock industry in South-West Nigeria. Stratifiedudrandom sampling technique was employed in collecting data from 360 livestock farmers. Descriptive statistics, budgetaryudtechnique and linear programming model were employed for data analysis. Six livestock enterprises, non-integrated poultry,udpiggery and fishery and horizontally integrated poultry/fishery, poultry/piggery and poultry/piggery/fishery were identified.udLivestock farmers in the area are aged with low level of education and large household size do not operate at optimal level basedudon the available resources. The budgetary analysis shows that the most profitable enterprise combination is integrated poultryudand piggery while the enterprise that yielded the least net farm income is non-integrated poultry enterprise. The profitability ofudintegrated and non-integrated livestock enterprises is limited by high cost of production in which the feed cost constitutes theudlion’s share. The optimal enterprise combinations are the integrated poultry and fishery and integrated poultry/piggery enterpriseudwith poultry/piggery combination being the most efficient. The policy implication from this study requires that both farmers andudgovernment must team up to find a means of reducing feed cost by financing livestock research centers and state agriculturaluddevelopment programmes to develop genetically improved breeds of livestock which efficiently converts feed. Labour as audresource was the most limited in the area, there is therefore the need for research to focus critically on indigenously automatedudlivestock equipment that can perform tasks like feeding, vaccination, etc. Farmers in South-West Nigeria and by extension,udNigeria as a whole should concentrate and intensify their livestock combination practices especially that of poultry/piggery,udwhich is the optimal combination enterprise and that of poultry/fishery enterprise combination because of their high profitabilityudlevels.udKeywords: Livestock, Optimal, Enterprise, Combination, Linear Programming