Capacity building needs of poultry farmers for quail production in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigated the capacity building needs of poultry farmers for quail production in Kwara State, Nigeria. A questionnaire was used to elicit information from 80 randomly sampled poultry farmers from the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Kwara State Chapter. The findings revealed that the majority (70.0%) of the poultry farmers were male with a mean age of 44 years, married (75.0%) and formally educated (98.75%). The poultry farmers were mostly (78.75%) small-scale producers rearing less than or equal to 500 birds on their farms. Capacity building was highly needed for quail husbandry and management practices, feeding and nutrition, housing and equipment, processing and marketing of products, among others. Seven challenges were identified by the poultry farmers as severe challenges militating against the diversification of their poultry enterprise to include quail production. Chi-square analysis revealed a significant relationship between the poultry farmers? capacity building needs for quail production and their age (X2 = 5.545), educational level (X2 = 11.859) and years of farming experience (X2 = 9.604). It was recommended that extension agencies should package a robust training programme for poultry farmers on the areas of capacity deficiencies indicated for quail production.