Production and management of goat rearing in rural areas of Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed production and management practices of indigenous goat rearing in the rural communities of Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo State. Data were collected from 150 goat farmers in Ezinihitte Mbaise with the use of structured questionnaire in 2014 for data collection. The  questionnaire was on the socio-economic characteristics of goat farmers, factors influencing and constraints on production and management of goat rearing. The mean age of goat farmers was 51 years and 86 percent were males. The farmers’ level of education was primary education (60%), secondary education (22%), and tertiary education (18%). Majority (52%) of the household size were 4-7 persons with mean household size of 4 persons. Farming experience was mostly short (62%) having only 1-5 years. The result showed that coefficient of age, farm size, educational level, household size and years of experiences were the factors that influenced goat production and management in the study area. Farm size, family labour and capital were shown to be crucially important for goat production and management. The farmers had an over-utilized resource in goat production and a decrease in resources increased proportional output. Most of the farmers practisedextensivesystem of production as the most commonly used system by goat farmers. Poor veterinary services, inadequate skilled labour, poor housing facilities, poor road network, market  problems, high disease and pest incidence, high cost of animal drugs, and feeds are the constraints faced by goat farmers. The study recommends strong efforts to educate and retain the experienced goat farmers to ensure increase output and productivity.

Key words: goat rearing, production, management, constraints