Agricultural Extension Services and Disease Outbreak Readiness among Smallholder Poultry Farmers in Nasarawa State, Nigeria
Abstract
Agricultural extension services (AES) are widely regarded as critical for strengthening smallholder poultry farmers' capacity to prevent, detect, and manage disease outbreaks, yet the extent to which these services translate into actual outbreak readiness in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, remains under-documented. This study examined AES and disease outbreak readiness among smallholder poultry farmers in the State, describing farmers' socio-economic characteristics, examining their awareness of and access to extension services relevant to disease outbreak readiness and the factors influencing such access, ascertaining their level of readiness, and investigating the barriers to effective readiness. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 300 poultry farmers from twelve communities across six Local Government Areas. Data were collected with a structured, validated questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha = 0.748) and analysed using descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and principal component analysis. Results showed that farmers were predominantly male (65.33%), married (80.33%), and highly literate, with 93.00% aware of extension services as sources of disease-prevention information and 93.67% reporting access to such services. Years of formal education, poultry management system, and marital status significantly influenced access to extension services. About 50.67% of farmers demonstrated high disease outbreak readiness, while 48.33% showed moderate readiness. Principal component analysis identified institutional, informational/financial, and technical constraints, which jointly explained 74.69% of the variance in barriers to readiness. The study concludes that strengthening extension delivery, veterinary support, and farmer education is essential for improving disease outbreak preparedness among smallholder poultry farmers.
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