Economic viability of broiler chicken enterprises among farmers in Kiboga municipality, Kiboga district

Abstract

Broiler chicken businesses are regarded as an opportunity to alleviate poverty and ensure nutrition security in developing countries. This study intended to assess the economic viability of broiler chicken enterprises in Kiboga municipality, Uganda. Data were collected from 60 broiler chicken farmers. The specific objectives of the study were to characterize broiler chicken farmers, to determine the profitability of broiler chicken enterprises and examine the challenges faced by broiler chicken farmers. Descriptive statistics and gross margin analysis were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that; the mean age among farmers was 40.7 with average experience of 3 years in broiler chicken farming. 66.67% of the sampled farmers were females and most farmers had an education level of 11 years and below with mean educational level of 10 years. The mean day-old chicks’ stock size among the farmers was 301 chicks and the study revealed that the cost of raising a single bird for a month, on average is 9,681 Uganda shillings. A mature broiler is sold at 5 to 6weeks, at an average selling price of 11,525 Uganda shillings, yielding an average of 20.05% profit per bird. This indicates that broiler poultry production is a viable enterprise. Major challenges included high feed costs and lack of access to a stable supply of day-old chicks. There is room for increasing this level of profitability if the challenges faced by farmers are worked upon as suggested in this report. Some of the recommendations made included; forming functional farmer groups or cooperative societies for broiler farmers in the study area, ensuring a well-coordinated extension program for farmers and organizing seminars, workshops and trainings to educate farmers.