Examining the contribution of livestock farming on the welfare of small holder farmers in Mataale sub-county, Kibaale district.

Abstract

The major purpose of this study was to analyze the contribution of livestock farming on the welfare of small holder farmers in matale sub county kibaale district. the specific objectives of the study were: to determine the socio economic characteristics of livestock farmers, to determine the effects of livestock farming on house hold welfare, and to assess the factors that influence livestock farming in mataale sub county. The data collected from the sampled livestock farmers was analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages presented by tables and graphs to answer the objectives of the study. Data was coded for completeness and processed using a computer software called STATA. This was used to analyze quantitative data. This was chosen because it is able to compute all the statistical quantities that are required for the interpretation of the data that was collected from the sample of 60 livestock small holder farmers. These data was coded and entered into STATA computer software package for analysis. The results showed that majority of the livestock farmer respondents (83.3%) were males as compared to their female counterparts. Those who had attained the primary education level were 36.7%, followed by those who had attained the secondary education level (33.3%). Those who had completed college and university covered the remaining percentage equally. Furthermore, it was revealed in the study findings that nearly half of the respondents were catholic (41.7%), 28.3% were Anglicans, 16.7% were Muslims, 5% were Orthodox then the remaining percentage was for other religions. number of livestock animals kept have an effect on the welfare of the farmers in terms of the animals consumed, the total number of animals kept by the livestock farmers increases by 10 animals when all other factors are set to zero and farm skills, the number of animals kept increases by approximately 2 when the size of the family increases by 1 person while holding other factors constant.