Effect of Poultry Production on the Poverty Status of Small Scale Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

Using data from 104 small scale poultry farmers in Oyo state of Nigeria, this study examined the role of poultry production in rural poverty reduction. The results show that majority of the farmers were male (87 percent), married (87 percent), having family size of 5 to 7 persons (53 percent), above 44 years of age with farming experience of 7.5 years on average and with formal education (95 percent). The average net farm income (NFI) is N788,164 per annum indicating that, the business is worth investing in. Poverty incidence, poverty depth, and severity of poverty are 49 percent, 23 percent and 13 percent respectively, the poor farmers need to generate an additional 23 percent of the fixed amount of income to cross the threshold of poverty. The result showed that male headed households and farmers without tertiary education are poorer. Poultry income and education level of the household head have significant, negative effects on poverty status of the households indicating that, additional increase in these variables will reduce the probability of being poor.