Social-Economic Status of Cane Rat (Thryonomys Swinderianus Temminck) Farmers in Awka South Local Government Area, Anambra State, Nigeria

Meat production serve as one of the major source of income to farmers. This study was carried out to access the socio-economic features of cane Rat (Thryonomys Swinderianus Temminck) production in Awka South (LGA) Anambra State, Nigeria. Ten respondents were randomly selected from each of the nine communities in the study area, making a total of ninety cane rat farmers. The communities were: Ezinato, Isiagu, Umuawulu, Nibo, Nise, Okpuno, Mbaukwu, Amawbia, Awka. A structured questionnaires was administered to each respondent while data collected include sex, age, marital status, education level, household size, religion, purpose of production, level of production and methods of marketing. Data was analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21, while descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. From the findings, it was observed that 58.1% were males, while 41.9% are females. In the research, 93.5% of the respondents are married, 3.2% are widows, while 3.2% are widowers, 38.7% lack formal education, 32.3% has just primary education while 19.4% has secondary education. Result also showed that majority of the farmers are old and between 41 to 60 ages which represent about 64.5% of the farming population. The study revealed that cane rat is a good source of revenue that can help reduce economic challenges among farmers. The age of the farmers could also affect the rate they accept new farming techniques.