Economic assessment of guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) farming among the rural households in the buffer zone of the Oba Hills Forest reserve, Nigeria

Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) farming is practiced at subsistence level in Nigeria for supplying animal protein to rural households in spite of its huge commercial potential in terms of income. The economic viability of guinea fowl farming among the rural dwellers in the Oba Hills Forest Reserve, the Osun State, Nigeria, was investigated. A structured interview schedule was used to obtain data from 120 sampled respondents from selected communities in the forest reserve's perimeter zone. Descriptive statistics, frequencies, means, and percentages were used to analyse the data. The results of the descriptive analysis revealed that the vast majority of the respondents were middle-aged, married male Muslims with large household sizes. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the domesticated birds were kept in a free-range system, with small flock sizes, with no supplementary feeding, and veterinary care. The budgetary analysis reveals that guinea fowl farming is a profitable venture in the study area with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.78. The regression analysis results reveal that the costs of feeding and labour significantly influence the gross margin. The study concluded that, despite the fact that guinea fowl farming has an enormous economic returns potential in the study area, the rearing of the birds remains quite low. It is thus recommended that the farming households should receive a livestock extension education in order to improve their gross margin from guinea fowl farming. Keywords: Guinea fowl farming, Oba Hills Forest Reserve, budgetary analysis, rural households