ASSESSMENT OF LIVESTOCK FARMERS’ UTILIZATION OF VETERINARY SERVICES IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

The study was carried out to assess livestock farmers’ utilization of veterinary services in Osun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting 90 respondents from the study area. Data were collected through the administration of questionnaire and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and inferential statistics (correlation analysis). The results of the analysis shows that the majority (76.7%) of the respondents were male with a mean age of 47 years. The study also reveals that majority (87.8%) of the respondents had formal education with a mean farming experience of 9 years. The result shows that the level of utilization of veterinary services among respondents was relatively high, with a grand mean of 3.28 in the study area, this might be due to the high level of educational attainment. The correlation analysis of the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents towards the utilization of veterinary services was significant (at P<0.05) with Sex (P=0.000), Educational Attainment (P=0.000), Religion (P=0.044), Years of Farming Experience (P=0.000), Monthly Income (P=0.000), Farm Size (P=0.001). Constraints to utilization of veterinary services identified in this study includes high cost of hiring veterinary services (1.87) ranked 1st, Use of fake injection and drugs (1.66) ranked 2nd, Inadequate funds to acquire vaccines or drugs (1.61) ranked 3rd, Scarcity of adequate drugs and vaccines (1.53) ranked 4th. The study concluded that level of utilization of veterinary services in the study area is relatively high and is influenced by the sex, educational attainment, years of experience, income and farm size of the respondents’. The study recommended that the government set up more veterinary hospitals and clinics in different parts of the state to make veterinary services accessible and affordable by livestock farmers. Veterinary service providers and agencies should recruit qualified and certified veterinarians to meet up with the increasing number of farmers considering livestock keeping as a business.