This analysis investigates factors affecting poultry farmers in Fufore Local Government part of Adamawa Status, Nigeria. It also discusses ways by which these farmers can be empowered by using ICT. In this particular research, mixed research methods were implemented in acquiring the data that was used; this consists of the quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study discovered that a general support to develop the poultry production is necessary in the region of ICT and business to enable their businesses. That is necessary for considerable improvements in the contribution of the job to domestic development and economic health of poor farmers. Also this research demonstrates that the implication of high level ICT may have extremely excellent results on empowering business to the Rural Farmers and can also increase their financial development, by providing the poultry farmers with well access to ICT, to enhance their business to increased and better basic and global marketplaces.
Introduction
Poultry farming is one of the major varieties of Agriculture practiced in Nigeria and a great many other countries in the world. It provides employment with high income to many both in the rural and urban places. For example, the United States, "The common net gain of poultry farmers may differ from $13, 900 per 12 months to $20, 000 or more per season. " (Poultry Farmer Job Explanation, 2010). Aside from this, poultry farming also contributes to the gross domestic product GDP of many countries. Predicated on the research we conducted, we found out that poultry creates about 27% of the livestock share contribution to Nigerian's gross home product (GDP). "Poultry Eggs and meats contribution of the livestock share of the GDP increased from 26% to 27% in 1999" (Ojo, 2003). Predicated on this statistics and the disregard of poultry farming by the Nigerian's Federal government especially in the rural areas, we intend to show the rural poultry farmers how they can empower their poultry business by using ICT and some of the recent technical devices.
In this paper, we are concentrating our research on the rural part of Adamawa Condition know as Fufore MUNICIPALITY Area. Fufore is a little town (an area government) positioned in the southern part of Adamawa Status. The town is mainly dominated by the Fulani tribe of Adamawa talk about. Majority of them are into cattle rearing and poultry farming while those hateful pounds are into farming. The main goal of this research is to introduce ICT to these rural people and show them ways they can utilize it to improve their business.
Fufore poultry famers
The poultry famers of this region (Fufore) are doing the type of poultry farming know as the garden poultry farming. In this type of garden poultry farming, they rear end their poultry poultry in the garden space of their house instead of putting them in a rooster coop. "A poultry coop is a structure where live chickens are stored either on the rooster homestead or, in our case, an outdoor chicken farm" (My YARD Chicken farm 2007).
The kind of chicken farming practiced by these folks has so many disadvantages, because in our opinion, the most crucial aspect of poultry farming is the casing. It is because poultry chickens are fragile plus they easily get infected by diseases, tough weather e. t. c which ends up killing lots of the chickens if not wipe up the entire poultry. In order to avoid this, it is expected that the chickens are stored within an isolated place that is clean and well secured. "A chicken house isn't only designed as a location for keeping chickens or shelter for your hens to place their chicken breast eggs, but also for coverage as well. Guarding your chickens from wintry drafts or various bad weather should be your #1 matter when building your first rooster house. " (My Back Yard Chicken plantation 2007).
Methodology
Mixed research method is utilized in this research, both quantitative and qualitative. Hence using survey data was accumulated from chicken farmers where some also used aquaculture residing in rural areas of Adamawa status, Nigeria.
The population includes rural dwellers and almost all of its inhabitants rely upon subsistence chicken farming, crop development, and dog herding. The term "rural" can be explained as places with low degree of services (e. g transport, normal water, and medical services), non-urban settlements (such as Fufore villages) and a very high incidence of poverty ( IJEDICT, 2008).
Geographically, the Fufore areas utilize both raining rainy season and dried up season using the river standard bank of Benue. It is purely a local food producing community. Interviews with some elders in the community show all tribes have their own pattern of traditional establishments. There are lots of tribes such as Bata, Verre, Laka and Pere and the largest the Fulani tribes all mainly professing the Islamic beliefs. A few of their local establishments include, stools, mortals, pestles, hoe handles, axe grips, axe, hoe etc (Ayaga: 2009).
Using set up questionnaire to interview the respondents who are poultry farmers. In some situation where our respondents cannot understand British, their native words specifically Fulani was used as medium of communication. This present finding on "Which poultry farming resources are being used by rural poultry farmers? Which ICT resources are used by rural poultry farmers and just why? Just how do ICTs boost rural chicken farmers and quality of life? What problems those poultry farmers experience when accessing and using ICTs.
Profile of Respondents
Respondents were between your ages of 20 - 40 yrs. The respondents were asked questions that looked for to determine private information with regard with their field of job, education. We were holding questions common to the rural environment.
Table of ICTs employed by rural people n=10 to gain access to educational, business/trade, health, chicken farming.
Table Shows use and availability of ICTs in the rural areas of Fufore district
ICTs
Education of chicken farming
Business of Poultry farm
Health of poultry
Radio
77%
88%
65%
Television
38%
21%
19%
Films
15%
13%
7%
Cell-phone
5%
8%
2%
Telephone
1%
Video
Computer/internet
1%
Respondents felt that ICTs were very costly or completely unavailable. ICTs particularly the radio and Television set are the actual often see and sometimes use to hear current affairs and music which highly enrich their lives. In this rural area computer/internet and cellular phone is rarely seen or available in this field. Most likely only the community chief can afford computer/internet or mobile phone.
Major Challenges Encountered by Fufore Chicken Farmers
The poultry farmers in this area are confronted with a lot of problems ranging from technological to property. Some of these problems includes: Insufficient conducive atmosphere for poultry (coop), Insufficient reliable machineries for the chicken, lack of proper maintenance of the chicken, lack of efficient medication for the chickens.
Lack of effective machineries
Based on our research, we discovered these farmers not only do not use machineries for his or her poultry, however they don't even know about these machineries not to think of with them. With the help to ICT, we will be able to present these chicken farmers for some of the machineries that will assist promote their poultry business. An example of machinery that is used for poultry is the egg incubator. "The egg incubator comprises a transparent chamber and the equipment that regulates its temperature, humidness, and ventilation. For years, the rule uses for the controlled environment provided by egg incubators is utilized for hatching poultry eggs" (Frank 1991). "The first incubators were used in historical China and Egypt, where they contains fire-heated rooms where fertilized hen eggs were positioned to hatch, in that way freeing the hens to continue laying eggs. Later, wood stoves and alcohol lights were used to warm up incubators. Today, poultry incubators are large rooms, electrically heated up to keep up temperatures between 99. 5 and 100 certifications Fahrenheit (37. 5 and 37. 8 certifications Celsius). Fans are being used to circulate the heated up air evenly over the eggs, and the room's moisture is defined at about 60 percent to reduce the evaporation of drinking water from the eggs. Furthermore, exterior air is pumped into the incubator to keep a constant air degree of 21 percent, which is normal for oxygen. As much as 100, 000 eggs may be nurtured in a huge commercial incubator at one time, and all are rotated at the least 8 times per day throughout the 21-day incubation period" (Frank 1991). With recent technology, there are small egg incubators that fit up to 30 eggs and cost ranging from $49. 95 us dollars. These incubators are cheap and with the aid of these incubators, the rural fufore poultry famers can hatch the eggs of the chickens. By so doing, they'll save a whole lot of cost buying chicks. An example of this type of incubator is seen below.
Lack of proper cover for poultry
The poultry farmers around here lack proper real estate because of their chickens. Rather than caging the chickens in an isolated area to prevent them from getting contaminated by some diseases and to help make sure their safeness from pets like cats and dogs, they simply allow them to roam about in the backyard during the day. At night, they lock them up in a room where they spend the night. To be able words, the chickens are just allowed to nourish in the day time. All of this is basically because they lack an effective housing because, in a well organized and standard poultry plantation, they chickens nourish day and night using light during the night. This makes them get mature on time and also make sure more production.
Lack of Medications
Medication is an essential requirement of poultry; it is because poultry chickens are delicate and easily gets contaminated by germs and diseases. Based on our research, we discovered that poultry disease is one of the major difficulty those farmers are facing. Corresponding to one of these known as Musa, "we lack medications for these chickens and because of this, when one of the chickens is influenced others also follow suit and without proper medication which we lack, it results to the death of several" (Musa, 2010).
Lack of skills for poultry management
The poultry farmers here lack the essential skills of managing and owning a poultry plantation. The farmers simply focus on the eggs that the chickens produce, and nothing at all else. They depend on those eggs as the major and only source of their poultry income meanwhile; the eggs are one among the resources of income of a poultry. Using ICT, we are in a position to show these people some ways they can generate income from the poultry farm in addition to the sales of eggs. A few of these include: slaughtering the old less productive chickens and offering the beef to an organization like the North american University of Nigeria or fast food like Yahaya Restaurant. Using their remains as manure on their farms or reselling those to the farmers e. t. c
Proposed Model
Given a growing digital divide, we need "to ensure that the benefits associated with new systems, especially ICT, can be found to all or any". (UN: 2000). To achieve this and empower poultry farmers on the use of ICT, the federal government must do the following
Establish Telecentres (Information Gain access to Centers).
Telecentres will provide poultry farmers information services on in the area of health of poultry, effective poultry farming techniques, pest management, possible poultry business activities and market price information as well as skills training. The use of Telecentres should be free. The description includes the multipurpose community centre whose try to show how to "use technology for Poultry farming". The telecenters bring web-sourced information made available through various media such projectors, tv sets, radio. Telecentres should have a site that has links to other websites which take rich content on Poultry farming techniques, pest management, possible poultry business activities and selling price information. Town telecenters should be prepared with computer systems with Internet functionality, fax machines, telephones, tv sets, VCRs and different printed materials. The town telecenters also needs to be network-linked with those founded in other neighboring rural telecentres; this will accomplish the exchange of experiences, information, and advert of community produce. Telecentres should provide services like tone of voice telephony to fax, Internet and videoconferencing services to rural poultry farmers. . Telecentre requires the engagement of various companies for the information processing and dissemination activities. Telecentres will also enlighten the rural dwellers of Fufore on home elevators basic government services such as healthcare, information for farmers and other essential support services in rural areas that your inhabitants want thus raise the use of ICT. Telecentres staffs should be well trained and also have the eager and potential to learn in order to help rural poultry farmers who cannot read and write to get the appropriate information they want.
Public call offices/public pay phones
The federal should install public pay phones or general public call office buildings in rural area of Fufore. This will improve both connection and ease of access in rural Fufore by providing various levels and types of general population ICT opportunities in the region. The target is to provide information about poultry farming, e-commerce, ensure financial sustainability and having benefits right to the local poultry farmers.
Advantages of ICT to Poultry farmers in the rural areas
Better Access to price information of Poultry products:
With the utilization of ICT poultry farmers can take note best prices of these products. Poultry Farmers in rural areas such as fufore tend to be found to be unaware of the value of the Poultry products ( e. g eggs, chickens ) marketplaces. Poultry farmers often end up in an unhealthy negotiating position with customers in the price of chickens and feeds, which farmers pay an inflated price for. Farmers don't realize opportunities of their surrounding regions: for example which poultry breeds and commodities are fetching higher prices in adjoining cities; which products are in high demand, and so on. Accurate information on market specifications can help the farmers in their cash earnings.
Better Access to countrywide and international Marketplaces.
It is important to work towards increasing the amount of access of information farmers have to potential marketplaces, to assist in contact between sellers and clients, promote agricultural exports, facilitate online trading, and make manufacturers alert to potential market opportunities including consumer and price trends in international market segments.
Greater usage of poultry and agricultural information:
Local farmers with the utilization if ICT will be educated concerning better practices in poultry farming, such as gain access to information about poultry health therefore reducing disease of chickens(e. g Newcastle disease). And also to bridge the space between information needs of farmers and the info provided, which is insufficiently localized and overly scientific in its display. With usage of poultry farming/ agricultural information will give farmers greater recognition about new adapting techniques on droughts, changing weather, diseases and pests and therefore increase their creation efficiency.
Conclusion
This empowerment goes a long way in changing the lives of not only Fufore poultry farmers, but it'll provide as enlightenment to as many Rural Poultry farmers as possible. If adopted, it'll perceive a noticable difference in their income, social status; get increased sense of self-confidence in poultry business. ICT will ensure the provision of the following to the rural dwellers: Job, improved market gain access to, improved upon negotiation position, change in their levels of income, improved levels of cooperation, improved access to information about efficiency and production methods, improved upon infrastructure/connection in the rural areas and access to price information among others.
