The Economics of Indigenous Management Systems (IMSs) in Small Ruminants Production used by Small Scale Farmers in Gombe State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the economics of using indigenous management systems (IMSs) in small ruminant production in Gombe state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 80 small scale goat and sheep producers. Data were collected from the primary sources using pre-tested and validated structured questionnaire supported with oral interview. Both descriptive statistics (percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (chi-square test and correlation analysis) were used to analyse the data. Majority (83.75%) of the small ruminant producers were below the age of 50 years. The results also revealed that 90.0% of the respondents are full time farmers, where about 60.0% are low level income earners of < N 50,000/annum. Only 07.50% of the respondents did not acquire any form of education, while most (51.25%) have the basic education. The study identified four major IMSs used by the livestock farmers in the study area, with the majority (40.0%) embarked on ‘Fulani pastoral system’ while only 05.0% of the respondents used ‘Turka management system’. It’s revealed also, being low level income earners, 97.50% of the respondents kept small ruminant animals to serve as live bank. A high patronage of IMSs was recorded with 98.75% and 88.75% because of the familiarity with IMSs and high costs of modern methods respectively. There was significant relationship between IMSs utilisation and Age (r = 0.439, p≤0.05), income (r = 0.498, p≤0.05), occupation (r = 0.638, p≤0.05), education (r = 0.562, p≤0.05), years of farming experience (r = 0.480, p≤0.05). Farmers expressed fear about the extinction of grazing lands. Seasonal change in the availability of some herbs is also identified as a limiting factor of IMSs used in the study area. It is recommended to provide credit facilities and as well adequate extension services so as to motivate and train small scale livestock producers in the State.

Keywords: Indigenous, Management, Small Ruminant, Economics, Production