Abstract

This study assessed the coping strategies of poultry farmers with high cost of feed ingredients in Ekiti State. The multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents. Primary data were collected on socio economic characteristics, causes of price increase, perceived effect of high cost of poultry feed, coping strategies adopted by poultry farmers on high cost of feed and perceived Effect of coping strategies adopted on poultry production in Ekiti State. Also, tests of significant relationship were tested between the causes of price increase of poultry feed and the coping strategies adopted by farmers. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaires and analysed using frequency, percentage, mean and Pearson product moment correlation. The result showed that the mean age of the respondents was 48 years, 58.3% were married with a mean monthly income of N61, 400. The causes of price increase of poultry feed ingredients were high demand for feed ingredients by humans and animals (89.4%), low production of feed ingredients (85.4%), and high cost of transporting feed (85.0%). The perceived effects of the high cost of poultry feed on poultry farms revealed that the most significant impact was the constant increase in the price of poultry products, driven by high feed costs (73.3%) while the least reported effect was the outright Discontinuation of poultry farming activities (37.5%). Coping strategies adopted by poultry farmers were feed formulation (86.7%), change in feed routine of broilers (78.3%) while the least coping strategies used was growing feed ingredients on-farm (8.3%). A significant relationship existed between the causes of price increase of poultry feed (r= 0.522) and the coping strategies adopted by farmers. The study concludes that Rising feed prices and driven by demand threaten profitability and farm sustainability. The study recommends policies to stabilize feed prices to help farmers sustain operations and enhance food security.

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