WOMEN ROLES IN LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION AND IT’S IMPLICATIONS IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE IN JIGAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Women play significant roles in agriculture and livestock production in particular in many countries in Africa of which Nigeria is not an exception. Some of them own livestock especially sheep and goats since these animals are smaller and easier to handle compared to cattle, this study examined the socio- economic characteristics of women livestock farmers, the roles women play in livestock production, their access to extension services and the challenges they encounter with regards to extension service delivery in Jigawa State, Nigeria. The survey was carried out in two local government areas; Yar-gaya and Dan-hassan of Jigawa State. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 81 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected with the aid of questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using percentages, pie-charts and bar-charts. The results of the study revealed that 72.2% of the women are married, 50.6% possessed primary school education, 37.1% had informal education and 54.4% had a household size of (1-5). It further revealed that goat (32.10%) is the most common livestock specie kept by women while 29.6. % of the women were involved in marketing of livestock products (milk). A few (35.6%), of the livestock women farmers obtained agricultural information from household members, other sources were; radio (32.22%), extension agents (3.70%), and non-governmental organizations (16.05%). Poor access to agricultural extension services (64.6%) was the major challenge faced by women livestock farmers in the study location. This study therefore recommends that the federal government should ensure that gender-sensitive policies are adopted and implemented to improve the participation and empowerment of female livestock farmers.