Small Ruminant Animal Rearing as a Strategy for Alleviating Rural Poverty Among Women in Takakume and Falalia Villages, Goronyo Local Government Area Sokoto State

The study was conducted to examine the effect of small ruminant animal production in alleviating rural poverty among women in Takakume and Falalia villages of Goronyo Local Government Area, Sokoto State, Nigeria. In order to achieve the objective of the study, which is to assess the effect of small ruminant animals kept by women in alleviating poverty in the study area, structured questionnaires were administered to 100 respondents. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in the study involving 20 households, 10 from each village. Five (5) respondents were selected from each household. Socio economic data of livestock keepers was mainly used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed that age, and family size had a negative and insignificant effect on the flock size, while education and income had a positive and significant effect on flock size. The study based on its findings concluded that size of the flock kept translates to more income and therefore a large number of animal holdings, which is a proxy for poverty alleviation.