Requirements for Decision Enhancement for Poultry Farmers: A Case of East Africa

Abstract

Because of agriculture's direct link to global food security, it is strategically important. This research recognizes the importance of a paradigm shift from subsistence to commercial agriculture for East Africa to advance this strategic importance. This shift has particularly had significant impact on the poultry industry. In East Africa, commercial poultry farming has steadily taken root over the last decade albeit the challenge of inadequate farm management competences among farmers which has been aggravated by lack of systems and approaches to enhance effective and efficient decision making among poultry farmers in the region. The focus of this study therefore is how decision processes of poultry farmers can be enhanced so that they are able to efficiently monitor and manage their operations as they seek to take advantage of the trend of commercialisation of the poultry industry. This paper explores the decision making practices of poultry farmers with an aim of enhancing these decisions for improved productivity of poultry farms in the region. The key research question this study seeks to address is: How can decision making among poultry farmers in East Africa be enhanced?

Farmers’ Perception on the Welfare of Broiler Chickens in Smallholder Production Systems in Kiambu County, Kenya

“…In Kenya, the commercial broiler production is growing rapidly and is one of the popular animal husbandry subsectors contributing about 7.8% of the overall GDP ( [1], [2]).…”

Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Local Chickens sold at Central Markets in Ado-Ekiti, Akure and Owena Towns

“…Poultry in Nigeria is predominantly made of chicken and sales of these life birds is usually in a specific area of the general market [4]. They have been one of the sources of animal protein to the ever-growing teeming population,making significant contribution to human nutrition and economic development [5].…”

A document enrichment approach to facilitate reading comprehension

“…A research strategy provides the overall direction of the research, including the process by which the research is conducted and it underlines Singerian inquiry as one of its probing systems [Tumwebaze, 2016]. Singerian inquiry believes that reality is not proven, but arrives when enough decision makers are convinced as to what is real [Boggs and Hammer, 2010].…”

“…(iii) Theory formulation: After conceptualizing and ascertaining relevance of the reading comprehension problem for students at universities through initiation and abstraction, theory formulation was carried out to devise an appropriate solution for the problem [Tumwebaze, 2016]. Devising solutions for relevant problems is a major principle of design science and it seeks to extend boundaries of human and organization capabilities by creating new and innovative artifacts [Hevner et al, 2004].…”

“…The ways of framework pays explicit attention to all the important aspects of presenting a design science artifact [Stojanovic et al, 2001]. It has been used by many researchers in the design, development and implementation of information system artifacts [Tumwebaze, 2016]. Sol's way of framework defines a set of concepts and views which we use to characterise TermPedia.…”