Poultry Agriculture Research Paper

1.0 Introduction

This research sought to analyze the farm level profitability and efficiency among smallholder poultry farmers in Kampala Central Division. This chapter presents information related to this topic in the following sections: background to the study, problem statement, study objectives, research hypotheses, scope, significance, justification, definition of key terms and conceptual framework.

1.1 Background to the Study

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy involving 2.5 million farm families, accounting for approximately 31 percent of the country’s GDP and over 90 per cent of exports. The sector also provides the foundation for a number of agro-based industries. Eighty eight percent of the population in Uganda live in

Livestock production is an integral part of agricultural production in Uganda. Compared to crop production, livestock constitutes a relatively small component of Uganda’s agriculture contributing 4% to the agricultural GDP and just 12 % of the total value of agricultural production (Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development website). The livestock sector is typically a low-input-low-output management system with over half a million smallholder families (MFPED, 2000). The livestock sub sector contributes 7.5% of GDP and 17% of agricultural GDP. According to the 2010 livestock survey, the livestock population was estimated at 5.8 million cattle, 1 million sheep, 6.2 million goats, 1.5 million pigs and about 24 million units of

There is growing interest in commercial chicken production by investors in recognition of the good potential returns on investment accruing in commercial chicken production. With the coming in of large-scale investors, it is expected that the cost of production of chicken will eventually reduce owing to economies of scale thus reducing the price within means of an average income