Factors Influencing Commercial Production of Indigenous Poultry in Mandera County, Kenya

Abstract

Most farmers pursue poultry farming on a small scale as a hobby rather than as a business, thus they are unable to take advantage of the accompanying economic benefits. This is especially true of indigenous poultry. The purpose of this research was to establish the factors that influence commercial indigenous chicken production in Mandera County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were; to determine the effects of supplementary feeding, disease control, technical knowledge, market availability and credit access on commercial indigenous poultry production in Mandera County. The study's philosophical foundation was positivist. The study targeted 3971 households in Mandera North, Banisa and Mandera west sub counties in Mandera County, who constituted the population. A sample of 363 respondents, one from each sampled household was selected to represent the population. Primary and secondary data were used. Questionnaires, focus group discussions, and interview schedules were used to gather the main data. Preliminary confirmatory tests for reliability showed that the data collection tool was reliable with a Cranbach Alpha coefficient above 0.7. for most variable constructs. To determine the strength and nature of the independent variables impact on the dependent variable, multivariate regression analysis was carried out. The response rate was at 94% where 344 respondents answered and returned the questionnaire out of 363. The correlation results indicated that the independent variables; credit availability, disease control, market availability, poultry feeding and technical advisory services were strongly and positively correlated to indigenous poultry production as indicated by Pearson Correlation coefficient values of 0.584, 0.612, 0.827, 0.661 and 0.796 respectively. The results of ANOVA revealed that the F calculated value was 736.785, while F critical was 2.76, at a 5% level meaning significant at that level. Tests of hypotheses indicated that the independent variables were significant for poultry feeding (p=0.000), credit availability(p=0.000), disease control (p=0.000), market availability (p=0.000) and technical knowledge (p=0.000). Recommendations were made for policy makers to create an enabling environment for private enterprise to thrive in terms of improving on infrastructure and providing technically qualified support staff. It was further recommended that commercial poultry producers would pool resources to leverage on economies of scale and group dynamics in credit and market access