A descriptive analysis of social economic characteristics of indigenous chicken farmers in Kitui county-Kenya

Abstract

Production of indigenous chicken is a common practice among many farmers living in rural areas. Poultry population is the greatest among the livestock species reared worldwide. Poultry farming is perceived as a very potential and viable enterprise which can poster economic development through provision of employment, income and subsistence of the rural population. This study was conducted in selected wards of Kitui County to establish the effect of demographic characteristics of indigenous chicken farmers on the level of production. A descriptive research design was employed and data was elicited with 120 self administered questionnaires. After screening the returned questionnaires, 100 questionnaires were found fit for the analysis. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were used to analyse the data .Results revealed that 52% of respondents were women while 48% were men.75% were married while 15% were single. Results also showed that 40% of the indigenous chicken farmers had attained at least primary education level.41% had more than 10years of experience and a majority of 44% owned more than 2 acres of land. The multiple regression result gave adjusted R Square as 0.958 which implies that 95.8% of the factors influencing indigenous chicken production depend on the independent variables. More results revealed that majority of farmers kept less than 50 chicken of which 55% had more cocks than other types of chicken. The study recommends that the government implements a policy on adult education to increase the literacy level. Extension services should also be up scaled in order to increase level of technology adoption.