Socio-economic factors that influence the utilization of livestock extension services in Arapai sub county, Soroti district.

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the socio-economic factors Influencing the utilization of livestock extension services by livestock producers Arapai sub-county, Soroti district from January to May 2013. A structured questionnaire was administered to 100 participating farmers and data analysed in MS excel (version 2007) and SPSS (version 16.0). Result, obtained showed that certificate holders were the most utilized extension service providers (52%) among veterinarians, Para-veterinarians and animal production its. 5.9% of the respondents had utilized livestock extension services in the last six months while 41.0% did not distance from extension worker (X.= 13.314, df=3. P=0.04) availability of household budgets for extension services (X=24.550, df= 1, p=0.00) cost of treatment (X2=42.699, df=4, p=0.000), qualification of extension provider (X2=19.331, df=3, P=0.000), gender of household head (X2=11.513, df=1, p=0.000), and breed of cattle (x2= 16.892, df=2=0.000) significantly influenced the utilization of livestock extension services. Certificate holders were the most effective livestock extension service providers. The lever of utilization of livestock extension, services (LES) is low within Arapai sub-county: The influence on utilization of LES is multifactorial and improvements requires a comprehensive approach from all stakeholders. It recommended among others that policies for enhancing the Level of utilization livestock extension services in the study area should take into consideration measures to further enhance; the qualification of the extension Workers livestock management systems, level of household budgets for extension services and livestock ownership by women