Profitability of Small-Scale Broiler Farmers Production in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State

Abstract

This study examined the profitability of small- scale farmers broiler production in Delta State, Nigeria. The small-scale broiler farmers are those who raise not more than 100 chicks for meat in a production process. The specific objectives were to evaluate the profitability of small- scale farmers broiler production. The study used multistage random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from a randomly selected sample of 120 small scale poultry farmers from Delta State, Nigeria. Descriptive Statistics and Regression model were used in analyzing the data. Among the findings were that 45% were aged between 31 and 40 years. 74% were male headed households. Findings also showed that 58.3% were married while 89.1% had formal education either at primary, secondary, or tertiary level. The average household size was 4-6 persons, some had farming experience between 6 and 10 years. The gross margin was N74,900 while the net farm income was N50,100. The farmers return on investment (ROI)was N0.67 implying that for every one naira spent by broiler farmers in the study area attracts a gain of sixty-seven (67) kobo. Some of the major constraint on broiler production were high cost of feeds, lack of capital, pest/disease outbreak, pilfering, high mortality rate and shortage of water. It is recommended that government and private sector should provide feed to poultry farmers at a subsidized rate as that will encourage more farmers to venture into the business. Veterinary service should be provided to the farmers at affordable rate.

Keywords: Profitability, Small – Scale, Farmers, Broiler, Production