Determinants of utilisation of risk transfer measures among poultry farmers in Ogun state, Nigeria

The poultry industry contributes significantly to the development of Nigeria’s economy. Unfortunately, poultry farmers like other farmers are faced with income fluctuations arising from risks associated with the enterprise. In this study, socio-economic characteristics of poultry farmers, different types of risk faced by the poultry farmers, management strategies employed by the poultry farmers for risk reduction; and the determinant of utilization of risk transfer measures were examined. A total of 186 respondents were selected as the sample size using multistage sampling method. The findings revealed that the average age of the poultry farmers was 45 years, Majority of the poultry farmers were male (87.1%), and married (91.4%). The major types of risk faced by the poultry farmers were fluctuation of input price (1.36), mortality of birds (1.35) and incidence of pest and disease (1.31). Furthermore, the study revealed that the management strategies employed by the poultry farmers for risk reduction were access to credit (1.80), timely administration of drugs and vaccines (1.67) and use of modern production techniques (1.54). From the results, it can be concluded that timely administration of drugs and vaccines, use of modern production techniques, income diversification are the common risk management practices among the poultry farmers. The study therefore recommended that poultry farmers should be encouraged to diversify into other viable income generating activities to increase output and reduce shock of failure. Also, adequate institutional poultry farming, utilization, risk.support should be provided to improve productivity