Factors affecting the income of cattle keepers in Rukiri Parish Rubaare Sub County

Abstract

The major objective of the study is to investigate the factors affecting the income of cattle keepers in Rukiri parish, Rubaare Sub County, Ntungamo District. The study took a descriptive cross section approach which allows the researcher to explore and describe a phenomenon in its real situation. The target population was the cattle keepers in Rukiri parish, Rubaare Sub-County, Ntungamo district. Rukiri parish has 4 villages and each village is estimated to have 120 cattle keepers. The study targeted indigenous cattle keepers whose livelihood and food security mainly depends on indigenous cattle. The sample was only the cattle keepers in Rukiri parish Rubaare Sub County. The researcher interviewed 24 cattle keepers from each village out of 4 villages in Rukiri parish making a total of 96 cattle keepers. The researcher collected the data using both close ended and open ended questionnaires with a list of questions in which the respondent is required to respond to questions. The collected data was subjected to a sequence of operations which include editing, coding, classification. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics such as percentages and averages. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 16.0. ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to determine significant relationships between the study variables. The study results revealed that the there is no significant relationship between the cost of inputs, family size, size of land and the income of cattle keepers at 5 percent level of significance since the p-value is less than 0.05 from the ANOVA results. Furthermore, the Chi-Square results revealed that there is a significant relationship between education level and income of the cattle keepers since the p-value is less than 0.05 with a Pearson Chi-Square of 16.922. The regression results revealed that there is a statistically significant positive relationship (at 5 percent level of significance) between the education, number of cattle and the income of cattle keepers in this study since its P-value is less than 0.05. The study therefore recommends that cattle keepers should be encouraged to form associations/cooperatives for collectively marketing their cattle to abattoirs.