IMPACT OF INFORMATION SOURCES ON FARMERS AWARENESS AND UTILIZATION OF POULTRY MEDICINES

1.1 Introduction

The poultry farming is considered one of the hotspots for the use of antimicrobials. The knowledge, attitude and practices of poultry farmers are closely associated with the prudent use of antimicrobials in poultry farm practices. The poultry subsector plays an important role in promoting agricultural growth and reducing malnutrition in Nigeria people (Da Silva and Rankin, 2014; Hamid et al., 2017). Poultry farmers need sound and timely information to keep up with increasing demand, especially in rural areas. This includes production and marketing information to solve pest infestation, disease outbreaks, unreliable markets, outdated production methods, and procurement of sound inputs. Since there is so much an extension worker can do, attention has been turning towards the medium of mass information dissemination over the years (Oladipo & Olaniyi, 2018).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

The Nigerian poultry sector is the fastest-growing commercialized animal husbandry subsector in the country. This growth can be attributed to the low capital needed to set up and the increasing demand for poultry products, especially eggs, by the Nigerian. Nevertheless, this growth is not without its difficulties (Heise et al., 2015).

Traditionally, such birds would have been kept extensively in small flocks, foraging during the day and housed at night, this is still the case in developing countries, where the women often make important contributions to family livelihoods through keeping poultry, however, rising world populations and urbanization have led to the bulk of production being in larger, more intensive specialist units. These are often situated close to where the feed is grown or near to where the meat is needed, and result in cheap, safe food being made available for urban communities (Eriksson and Larson, 2008).

The African traditional way of rearing livestock originally uses less of synthetic drugs, although the birds raised are hardy in nature. There is therefore the need for the use of veterinary knowledge of local farmers as a basis for the development of organic alternatives of livestock production (Adler and Jerry, 2012). Indigenous knowledge has gone a long way over the years to ensure minimal livelihoods for the rural resource-poor people in Nigeria. Most small-holder farmers that desire to adopt modern practices of animal health care are constrained by lack of finance and unavailability of consultancy advice from veterinary officers in remote villages (Kolawole, 2001).

According to Eurostat (2012) it was stated in value terms, that the EU-27’s crop output grew by 9.1% in 2011 to EUR 203,330 million and animal output increased by 9.9% to EUR 154,057 million and recently there has been a remarkable interest in livestock production. Poultry farming has numerous benefits; as a result many farmers prefer to invest in it. People generally establish poultry farm for the purpose of producing eggs, meat and generating high revenue from these products. Billions of chickens are being raised throughout the world as a good source of food from their eggs and meat. However, here I am shortly describing the main benefits of poultry farming. The main benefit of poultry farming is, it doesn’t require high capital for starting .It doesn’t require a big space unless you are going to start commercially. It also ensures high return of investment within a very short period. Some poultry birds like broiler chickens take shorter duration of time to mature and generating profit.

The importance of the poultry industry cannot be over emphasized, because of the vital roles it plays in human nutrition and creation of employment opportunity it provides for the teeming population. The industry if desired attention is paid by government at all levels, poultry industry can successfully absorb a large number of unemployed youth across the country currently searching for unavailable jobs. Through its chain of agro-allied activities, commercial feed aim toll milling, poultry productions processing, poultry marketing, veterinary, pharmaceuticals, hatchery operation and breeder farming.

In addition, the industry if properly harnessed, can also serve as source of foreign earning, complementing the crude oil (our present main source of foreign earning) responsible for over 90% of our exports e.g. a product of the industry gives about 3.5g of the total 7.2g animals protein required for individual dietary need per day. Again, (broiler table meat chicken) is the toast of every fast food outlets across the country. This is because chicken meat is cholesterol free; compare to red meat beef, mutton, pork, veal, venison and others, which contains cholesterol (a chemical substance), responsible for the increasing rate of heart diseases amongst Nigerians in recent times. Among which to be mentioned poultry contribute to GDP and GNP of the country.

Furthermore, poultry industry at the moment is bedeviled by enormous problems. Among which are lack of government funding, lack of credit facility, high cost of feeding ingredients, diseases, increasing cost of medications, marketing and lack of storage facility. Diseases are one of the major challenges to the industry, because of the economic importance of the disease causing organisms like bacteria, virus, fungal and protozoan, which poultry birds are susceptible to, bringing about devastating effects to both the flocks and the farmers .For instance, the outbreak of avian influenza otherwise known as bird flu, in 2005/2006, led to death of over 1.5 million birds across the country (Sahara reporter). It will be recalled that large number of poor farmers lost their means of livelihood, when their flocks were destroyed by government without compensation; yet foreign donor agencies are willing to address the problem of avian influenza stated by WHO (2005).

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Information Sources on Farmers Awareness and Utilization of Poultry Medicines.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the problem to lack of or minimal use of drugs observed in poultry production in Nigeria could be linked to information technologies and information sources (information revolution) affecting competitiveness (Porter and Miller,1985).Part of the reason why farmers do not engage in the usage of poultry drugs is that, historically the extension services has been focused on improving production and productivity (Gebremedhi et al., 2006) and abandoned the farmers after the harvest. This is why various stakeholders of agriculture need to critically analyze the information sources that are available and accessible to poultry production and also the information needs of the farmers, the structure of the organizations involved in these activities are issues that need to be explored generally(Demiryurek et al., 2008) in poultry production specifically.

The problem of the usage of poultry drugs is a great one and emphasis on it cannot be too much at this time when the nations’ agriculture is undergoing transformation in the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) in the economy of this nation.

The rural/village poultry system in Nigeria typically lacks access to organized health inputs. The structure of the rural poultry production system has constrained attempts to institute health extension services. Small flock size, mixed age and species flock composition, improper housing, scavenging, among other factors have made the use of conventional schedule-oriented health inputs like medication and vaccination difficult (Kolawole, 2001). This study here will provide answers to the questions that borders on information sources on farmers knowledge and usage of poultry drugs in Edo and Delta states, Nigeria.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Information Sources on Farmers Awareness and Utilization of Poultry Medicines in Edo and Delta states, Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To identify the social economic characteristics of poultry farmers in the study area;
2. To ascertain respondents on poultry drug information sources, access, preference and usage;
3. To assess respondents’ knowledge on the effects of poultry drugs usage; and
4. To examine constraints respondents face in sourcing and adopting poultry drugs information and in application of poultry drugs.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the socio-economic characteristics of poultry farmers in Edo and Delta states?
• What are the various sources of information on poultry drugs available to respondents in Edo and Delta states?
• What are the respondents’ accesses and preferences for poultry drugs usage information source?
• What is the respondents’ awareness for the effects of poultry drugs usage?
• What are the constraints respondents faces in sourcing and adopting poultry drugs information?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant relationship between the social economic characteristics of poultry farmers and their access to various sources of information
• H1: There is significant relationship between the social economic characteristics of poultry farmers and their access to various sources of information

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant relationship between social economic characteristics of poultry farmers and preferred sources of information on poultry drugs
• H1: There is significant relationship between social economic characteristics of poultry farmers and preferred sources of information on poultry drugs

Hypothesis Three

• H0: There is no significant relationship between source of information and the use of poultry drugs among respondents
• H1: There is significant relationship between source of information and the use of poultry drugs among respondents

Hypothesis Four

• H0: There is no significant relationship between respondents awareness on the effects of poultry drugs usage and their access to various sources of information
• H1: There is significant relationship between respondents awareness on the effects of poultry drugs usage and their access to various sources of information

Hypothesis Five

• H0: There is no significant relationship between social economic characteristics and the constraints respondents face in sourcing information
• H1: There is significant relationship between social economic characteristics and the constraints respondents face in sourcing information

Hypothesis Six

• H0: There is no significant relationship between source of information and the constraints respondents face in the sourcing of such information
• H1: There is significant relationship between source of information and the constraints respondents face in the sourcing of such information

1.7 Significance of Study

This study is necessitated by the urgent need to improve drug usage in livestock production generally and poultry production specifically.

The study is directed to review the role of drug usage in the socio-economic development of poultry farmers in Edo and Delta states respectively.

It is expected that the findings that would be gotten from the study will be beneficial to the entire socio-economics profile of poultry farmers in the study area and it will be helpful in policy makers, extension agencies, extension workers and various Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations (N.G.O).

This study is also of present day relevance to encourage the efficient use of available information sources and other forms of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to diffuse important knowledge in drug usage ,to improve the socio-economic status of the poultry farmers in Edo and Delta states. Essentially, this study will hopefully add to the available literatures useful for academic research and other related research topics.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Impact of Information Sources on Farmers Awareness and Utilization of Poultry Medicines in Edo and Delta states, Nigeria.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).