Abstract
The study was conducted to evaluate factors that significantly influence indigenous poultry production among smallholder farmers in Tigania west Mer County using the production function approach. The study relied on primary data collected by administering structured questionnaires to 359 respondents randomly selected from 5 wards using the multi stage stratified random sampling and probability proportionate to size techniques. A cross sectional survey design and primary data on poultry yields, inputs and farmer demographics were collected. A one step Cobb Douglas production function in logarithmic form was used to estimate the frontier production. From the analyses, results showed that over 50% of the deviations in poultry output resulted from production constraints. Further, off farm income, technology adoption, flock size, extension access and gender of respondents positively influenced indigenous poultry production, while land under cultivation had a negative influence. Results revealed a possibility to increase indigenous poultry production using improved feeds and vaccinations since they were the most limiting resources. In addition, policy interventions aimed at enhancing technology adoption and improving provision of extension services would serve as a motivation to persuade farmers increase stock and apportion more credits to poultry production. This would increase output leading to economies of scale thus increased returns among smallholder farmers. Key words: Indigenous chicken, production, smallholder farmer.
Highlights
The evolution of poultry production has signified a growing importance among small and medium-scale farmers residing in the rural areas (Milkias et al, 2019)
The results revealed an F-value of 95.97 which was highly significant at 1% level signifying that all variables in the model were paramount in explaining the variation of indigenous poultry production
The results of the current study reveal that improved feeds and vaccination were the most limiting resources in indigenous poultry production in the study area
Summary
The evolution of poultry production has signified a growing importance among small and medium-scale farmers residing in the rural areas (Milkias et al, 2019). Chickens are the most popular poultry worldwide (Hirwa et al, 2019). In Africa, village poultry contributes over 70% of poultry products and 20% of animal protein intake (Kejela et al, 2019). In Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), rural chicken production accounts for about 60% of poultry with indigenous chickens constituting 70% of the total chicken population (Kejela et al, 2019). Hirwa et al (2019) clarifies that in East Africa, over 80% of human population lives in rural areas and over 75% of these households keep indigenous chickens.
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