Perceived effect of covid-19 lockdown on chicken egg production among smallholder poultry farmers in Agbani Agricultural Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed the perceived effects of Covid-19 lockdown on chicken egg production in Agbani Agricultural Zone of Enugu State,  Nigeria. This was achieved by addressing the following objectives; examine the farmers level of awareness of Covid-19 lockdown implications; analyze the perceived effects of the lockdown on the farmers and examine the mitigation strategies. Multistage, purposive  and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 120 respondents. Structured questionnaire was used to generate data for  the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies, means and percentages. The major results showed that the  major effects as perceived by the farmers are high cost of feed, reduction in egg production and difficulty in accessing vaccine. It is  recommended that farmers collaborate and form viable farm level cooperative bodies to facilitate access to government intervention  programs on priority value chain commodities and other innovations that would mitigate the adverse effects of Covid-19 lockdown on  egg production.