Sociodemographic Characteristics of Swine Producers and Swine Management Practices in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Personnel are a significant variable of swine production. This survey was designed to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics of pig farmers and attendants in Ibadan and to evaluate some swine management practices adopted by the farmers in order to determine their likely effects on production output. Information was obtained by structured questionnaires and on-the-farm observation. One hundred and thirty questionnaires were distributed on fifty randomly selected farms in six peri-urban local government areas in Ibadan. The respondents included fifty farmers and eighty farm attendants. Observations of the management procedures and facilities were noted. Swine production in Ibadan is predominantly a male enterprise as most farmers (88%) and farm attendants (77.5%) are males. Most of the farmers (84%) and attendants (92.5%) are Christians and are from different sociocultural groups in southern Nigeria. Many of the farmers (72%) have over 10 years’ experience but most (90%) farms had less than 150-pig capacity and are able to employ only few staff. Swine production in Ibadan is significantly affected by social, cultural and religious beliefs of the people and management practices adopted are still largely manual, labour intensive and mostly on small scale basis. There is therefore a critical need for the intervention of government and relevant stakeholders in terms of training, enlightenment, provision of inputs and other incentives in order to enhance the productivity of the swine industry.