Urban Backyard Swine Production: A Case Study Of Kaduna, A Nigerian Metropolitan City

Abstract

A survey to assess the production pattern of backyard pig raising in Kaduna Metropolis was carried out using structured questionnaires. A total of 170 farmers were randomly selected for the study. 42.94% of the respondents were traders, 24.71% civil servants, 19.41% crop farmers and 5.88% were students. More women (61.76%) than men (38.23%) kept backyard pigs with herd size of 2-10 pigs. Most (86.50%) of the pigs were of the indigenous breed and are raised as a secondary source of income for the family. Management system was mostly extensive (71. 24%), but majority of the producers (98.24%) fed kitchen wastes, vegetables and agro-industrial by-products as supplement. About 58.40% of the farmers interviewed used mud-bricks with thatched roof and rammed earth floor to house their pigs over night, while 55.20% used cement blocks with zinc roof. Most of the farmers (98. 20%) reported incredible market age of 1¹/2 years and sold their pigs live.
Mortality was generally high, but was higher for young piglets than for adults and was mainly due to diseases and poor management. Only 58.82% of the respondents applied medications to their pigs, mostly against worms. Among the identified constraints to improved production are high cost and non-availability of compound formula feeds, difficulties in obtaining bank loans, lack of organised Markets for pigs, high incidence of diseases, accidental mortality, theft, poor Management, inadequate veterinary: services and lack of title to land. About 92.94% of the respondents found pig raising to be profitable. The survey showed that pig productivity in Nigeria's urban settings could be enhanced if adequate attention is paid to the removal of identified constraints to production.

Keywords: Urban backyard, swine production, Kaduna, Nigeria