ALLEVIATING RURAL POVERTY: WHAT ROLE FOR SMALL-HOLDER

In order to examine the role of small-holder livestock production in reducing rural poverty among small-scale farmers in Delta State, Nigeria, structured questionnaires were administered randomly to 264 small-scale farmers in 24 communities in 6 local government areas of the State, using multistage sampling technique. Data collected include socio-economic characteristics of households, flock size, livestock income, annual income of households, index of food insecurity and improved nutrition, ownership of residential accommodation, educational level, as well as gender of household head. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed that annual income, household size and gender of household head are statistically significant determinants of the value of flock size in small-holder livestock production. Average annual household income from livestock keeping was N=12,447.47 and this constituted 42.6 % of the mean annual income of N=31,262.95. The study also found income from small-holder livestock operation to have a positive and statistically significant (p< 0.001) effect on improved nutrition, household food security and consequently, rural poverty reduction