Socio-economic determinants of choice between layers and broilers farming among smallholder chicken farmers in Tanzania

Abstract

Poultry farming is among emerging important sub-sectors in Tanzania. The sub-sector has a potential to spearhead the transformation of the agriculture sector due to its inclusive nature and flexibility for diversified production systems. Data were collected from Dar es Salaam and Morogoro (Eastern zone), Kilimanjaro (Northern zone), Dodoma (Central zone), Mbeya and Iringa (Southern Highlands), Mwanza and Geita (Lake zone), and Mtwara and Lindi (Southern zone), aiming at identifying socio-economic factors that influence the choice of chicken farmers for either broilers or layers production, as these factors are important for business development advisors. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential approaches. Inferential analysis was done by using a binary logistic regression. The key interest in doing inferential analysis was the identification of socio-economic variables that influence choice between broilers and layers farming. The inferential analysis involved one dichotomous dependent and four dichotomous independent variables. The dependent variable was chicken type kept by the farmer (Yi ). The independent variables were; gender of the farmer (Xi ), marital status of the farmer (X2 ),employment status of the farmer (X3 ), and labor availability (X4 ). Results show that marital status, and labor availability have a significant positive influence at 1% level of significance. On the contrast, salaried employment has a significant negative impact on choice of layers farming at 10% percent level of significance. The paper conclude that in planning chicken development programs, socio-economic factors such as marital status, availability of labor, and employment status have to be considered.