Poultry feed crisis in Nigeria: implication for poultry production in Kwara State

Abstract

This study examined the influence of high cost of poultry feed on poultry production. Specifically, it investigated the causes of high cost of poultry feed, determined how cost of poultry feed has affected poultry production and identified coping strategies to high cost of feed. The study employed the use of interview schedule to proportionately sample 171 (68%) out of 251 registered poultry farmers using Taro Yamane formula. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that respondents’ poultry farming experience has a mean of 13.5 years, 43.3% raised broilers and layers while 72% obtain a bag of poultry feed at an average price of ₦6,780 ($9.78). It was further established that respondents perceived climate change due to erratic rainfall (30.4%) and hoarding of poultry feeds by sellers (18.7%) as causes of high cost of poultry feed, majority (94.7%) were affected with low profit (4.61±.723). Furthermore, respondents use alternative feed sources (4.60±.786) as coping strategy while years of experience and cost of feed were found to influence poultry production. The Binary Logistics Regression result shows that there is a significant relationship between the years of poultry farming experience of poultry farmers, coping strategies to high cost of feed and the perceived effects of high cost on poultry production while the result of the Chi-square test also showed a significant relationship between the perceived effects of high cost of poultry feed and the coping strategies adopted by poultry farmers.