Livestock Fattening: A Source of Livelihood Diversification among Households in Adamawa State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study examined livelihood diversification through livestock fattening among households in Adamawa State. Multi-stage sampling procedure was employed in selecting 250 respondents from three Local Government Areas of the State. Data were collected using interview schedule with the aid of structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics which includes; means, frequencies, percentages and Gross Margin. The result of the demographic characteristics of respondents revealed that most of them were young, male, married and had one form of education or the other. All the respondents reported that livestock fattening was their secondary occupation. They diversified in order to earn more income. Majority (85.34%) of the respondents fattened cattle. Depending on the kind (cattle, sheep or goat) and number of livestock fattened, on the average cattle fatteners earn ₦29,500 per head of cattle, ram fatteners earn ₦16,300 per head of ram and goat fatteners earn ₦4,100 per head of goat. Respondents reported that income earned from livestock fattening play significant role in their day to day households’ spending Majority (66.38%) of the respondents reported that finance is their major limiting factor to livestock entrepreneurship. The study concluded that households diversified their livelihood through livestock fattening. The study recommended that livestock supporting services should be revived particularly financial services to livestock fatteners and they should be encouraged to fatten more than one animal at a time so as to enjoy the economics of scale.
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References
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