Abstract
The outbreak of Avian Influenza in Nigeria has led to job losses, health problems, reduction in expected income of poultry farmers and a decrease in the demand for poultry products. This study was designed to determine the monetary value of stock lost, identify the determinants of the future employment decisions and the constraints faced by poultry farmers in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. Data for the study was collected from 40 poultry farmers who have suffered losses due to the outbreak of the disease. The total monetary value of the stock lost in the study area as at 2007 was N142, 741, 000. 45% of the respondents have abandoned poultry production while 32.5% have reduced the size of their poultry business. Furthermore, only 22.5% have restarted their poultry business without reducing the quantity of the initial stock before the outbreak of the disease. The determinants of the decision to abandon were; amount of compensation received, educational level of the poultry farmer and total number of stock lost. The factors influencing the decision to reduce the scale of operation were; level of education of the farmer, years of experience in poultry production and the amount of compensation received from government. The post Avian Influenza outbreak constraints faced by the farmers were; inadequate compensation, low patronage by customers and low level of accessibility to agricultural credit institutions.
Highlights
The first reported case of Avian influenza in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja was at Bwari Area Council on the 2nd of February 2006 followed by Kuje area council on the 14th of February 2006 and the Municipal area council on the 15th of February 2006
According to Obayelu (2007) about 75% of poultry farmers in the Federal Capital Territory were found to have stopped ordering for new birds to their farms and were preparing to leave the poultry business for other jobs the moment they disposed off the birds on their farms
Four area councils where there was a reported outbreak of Avian Influenza namely Gwagwalada Area Council, Municipal area Council, Bwari Area Council and Kuje Area Council were purposively selected for the study. 10 poultry farmers who suffered losses were randomly selected from each of the affected Area Councils
Summary
The first reported case of Avian influenza in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja was at Bwari Area Council on the 2nd of February 2006 followed by Kuje area council on the 14th of February 2006 and the Municipal area council on the 15th of February 2006. Olarenwaju (2006) reported that poultry farmers in Nigeria have been affected negatively by the outbreak of avian influenza. You and Diao (2006) analyzed the potential economic impacts of avian influenza in West Africa, taking Nigeria as an example They concluded that, depending on the size of the affected areas, the direct impact of the spread the disease along the two major migratory bird flyways would be the loss of about 4 % of national chicken production. About 22, 810 birds have been depopulated as at the end of 2007 from 609 farms and a compensation of over N11, 472.800 has been paid to the farmers in the Federal Capital Territory alone {at N250 per chicken} (Abuja Echo, 2007). The specific objectives were to estimate the monetary value of poultry birds lost to the disease, determine the post avian influenza outbreak employment options of poultry farmers, identify the factors that determine the employment options of the poultry farmers and to identify the post avian influenza outbreak constraints in the study area
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