Socioeconomic status of small ruminant rearers in selected provinces in Sierra Leone

This study focused on assessing the socio-economic characteristics of small ruminant farmers and identifying key challenges impairing the growth of the small ruminant local industry in selected provinces in Sierra Leone. The research adopted a cross-sectional design to generated primary information from 438 respondents in six selected districts using a well-structured pre-tested questionnaire. The data was analyzed using the statistical tool SPSS (version 23.0), the relationship between assessed variables and location were tested using Pearson’s Chi-square test. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents were men (60.5%), married (83.8%), had no formal education (79.2%), and above 50 years old (62.8%). Small ruminants were predominantly owned by men, but women and children (47.5%) were mainly responsible for routine management practices. The primary reasons for keeping small ruminants include cultural practices (78.5%), household income (71.5%), food (66.3%), and religious practices (64.6%). Farmers preferred rearing small ruminants over other livestock due to high market demand (31.1%), disease tolerance (20.5%), adaptation (16.0%), and prolificacy (13.2%). Income generated from the sales of small ruminants was mostly used to purchase food (68.0%), for educational purposes (64.2%), and crop farming (51.6%). The major challenges for farmers were diseases/parasites (100.0%), inadequate animal health services (80.8%), animal theft (63.7%), and mortality (62.1%). According to 81.7%, 77.2%, 73.1%, and 71.2% of the farmers, peste des petits ruminants, skin infection, foot rot, and reproductive diseases were regarded as the main diseases of small ruminants. To enhance productivity of small ruminants in the study areas, continuous education, improved biosecurity, and robust measures by the government and community are required to overcome these challenges.