ABSTRACT
This study interviewed 349 poultry farmers who benefited from government poultry feed input palliatives meant to help them to contain the negative effects of COVID-19 of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty. Demo-graphic results revealed that both males and females are involved in poultry farming; the average age of poultry farmers was 45 years, with an average family size of five. The average years of education were 13, equivalent to JSS 3 in the Nigerian education system. Types of poultry show that 49% of the poultry farmers reared broilers, 42% layers, and 1% cockerels, while 8% reared broilers and layers. Production characteristics reveal that 55.1% of the poultry farmers were members of an association like the Poultry Association, 78.5% benefited from government training, and 98% experienced reduced production costs on their poultry enterprise. The results show that reductions in the cost of production with government intervention were 30% of the total cost of production, and lower death was experienced among broiler enterprises compared to layer enterprises. The major benefits derived from the COVID-19 palliative included 39% of them experiencing increased farm income; 24.7% getting their cost of production reduced; 18.9% experiencing reduced hunger in their families, and 17.4% having increased output of bird produce through the palliative intervention. Using the Logit regression as an econometric model, the result for layer bird enterprises shows that Farm experience (p<0.1), and Increased production (p<0.05), among others, positively and significantly increased perception of hunger reduction by the beneficiaries; In contrast, the number of Birds owned (p<0.1), and the Cost of medication (p<0.05) negatively and significantly reduced perception on hunger reduction by the beneficiaries. One broiler enterprise 12 explanatory variables statistically and significantly influence farmers' decision on their perception of “hunger reduction”; the variables included those that positively and significantly influence farmer perception of reduced hunger. These are Education Squared (p<0.01), Poultry Association (p<0.05), % Cost Reduction (p <0.01), and Increased Production (p<0.01). Variables that statistically reduced perceptions of reduced hunger, among others, included the Cost of Medication (p<0.01) and Production Cost/Bird (p<0.01). Therefore, government and non-governmental organizations are recommended to push forward with interventions, especially focusing on identified factors, to strengthen the farmers’ capacity to battle against hunger and poverty.
Keywords: Logit regression, Palliatives, Hunger reduction, Poultry, Econometric model, and Perception.
Citation: Adebowale A., and Bamikole A. (2023). Socioeconomic effects of Oyo state government COVID-19 palliatives on poultry farmers. Int. J. Agric. Vet. Sci., 5(6), 137-154. https://doi.org/10.34104/ijavs.023.01370154
