Background of the Study

In Nigeria, human population is out growing food production resulting to food crisis in the country (F.O.S., 2007). This is a great challenge to individuals, organizations, Federal, State and Local Governments in Nigeria. In view of this, all are expected to join hands in improving the food supply of Nigerians. Food production increases at the rate of 2.8 percent while food demand increases at a rate of more than 3.8 percent due to the high rate of population growth of

2.93 percent (F.O.S., 2007). Despite this increase in food demand, the actual amount of protein consumed by average Nigerian is still very low. World Health Organisation (WHO) (2007), recommended more than 85g of protein per person per day. While Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) (2006), reported that the average Nigerian eats about 45g or less of protein per person per day which is far below the standard set by World Health Organisation (WHO). The level of animal protein intake by Nigerians is inadequate as they consume more of plant protein (FAO, 2011). Owing to the acute shortage of animal protein in the diet of average Nigerian, there is the need to increase domestic production of animals such as pigs. This will help to fill or at least narrow the animal protein deficit gap among Nigerian consumers.

Animal production has suffered a great set back in the recent years, due to disease outbreak, high cost of feeds and insufficient government assistance. This resulted to insufficient meat and other animal products which supply protein to man. Nigeria has a conducive environment for keeping farm animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, horses, donkeys, rabbits, camels, poultry and pigs (swine).

Pigs are among the oldest domesticated monogastric animals in the world (Holness, 2007). The origin of domestic pig is still not clear, it is probably derived from the European wild boar (Sus Scrofa) (Serres, 1999). Biblical writings, however, indicated that pigs were first

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domesticated as early as 2000 B.C. and there are over 90 recognised breeds of pigs and an estimated 230 species of pigs in the world (Holness, 2007). These breeds and species are classified into indigenous/unimproved and modern/exotic breeds. Pigs can be reared almost anywhere given suitable housing and management. Pigs are found throughout tropical and temperate regions where religious beliefs do not prevent them from being reared (Serres, 1999).

Pigs have high survival rate, high feed conversion efficiency and high prolificacy (Karol and Krider, 2001). Pigs are known to be prolific having 20 to 30 piglets from 2 litters per year (Akinyosoye, 1999). They have the gestation period of 3 months 3 weeks and 3 days. Pigs are good and efficient feed converters. They are able to reach slaughter weight of about 80

– 90kg in about 7 to 8 months under efficient management and balanced nutrition (Adesehinwa, Aribido, Oyediji and Obiniyi, 2003). The good qualities and inherent high productive potential of pigs make their production to be economically viable (John, 2007).

In Nigeria, pig production is the lowest of all livestock sub-sector in terms of meat supply when compared with poultry, goats, sheep and cattle (CBN, 2008b). Many pig farmers and investors are not willing to enter into swine production business and those who manage to enter easily quit. Research studies have shown that pig production in Nigeria is inadequate and requires drastic measures for its improvement and sustainability. When compared with poultry and other farm animals slaughtered and consumed daily in Nigeria, pigs represented less than 1 percent (F.A.O., 2006).

Apart from pork and lard, pigs give other economically important produce such as pig skin as raw materials for making valuable leather materials. Bristles from pigs are used for making brushes, hooves for making gelatin and glue products are also obtained from pigs (Holness, 2007). Pigs also provide good source of animal feeds from blood and inedible meat tissues. The pigs provide blood, intestines and offals for making sausage and delicacies for man and animal consumption. The faeces and effluents serve as manure to increase the fertility of

farm land and to produce biogas used in domestic cooking (Rogerio and Laura, 2006). All these pig products and by-products are potential income earners for the pig farmers.

A pig farm is a place where pigs are kept or reared, raised and bred for the supply of pork and other pig products. Pig farms are also known as piggeries. Pig farms are scattered all over Enugu State. They are located in both urban and rural areas of the state. Urban areas are located inside townships or cities where there are high population density coupled with adequate social amenities. Rural areas are located outside townships where there are low population density, vast area of land with little or no social amenities. The area of land available for the farms, the type of feeds available for the animals, accessibility of the farmers to the markets, availability of agricultural extension agents and veterinary officers will determine to a large extent the location of pig farms. Agricultural extension agents assist farmers to acquire productive pig farming technologies. In Enugu State, pork is demanded more in urban centres than in rural areas (Nwobodo, 1997). Apart from location, other disparities exist among pig farmers in the study area such as literacy, gender, experience and scale of production. These affect the adoption and the application of pig production technologies.

Pig farmers are those who work and care for the pigs in the farm either as farm owners, managers or attendants. They are in charge of pig farms and co-ordinates the activities of other factors of production. Pig farmers are involved in farm budgeting and control of farm inputs and outputs.

Agricultural extension agents are staff members of the state Ministry of Agriculture who are engaged in Enugu State Agricultural Development Programmes (ENADEP). They are trained to disseminate information on new innovations, techniques, improved practices and technologies to the farmers on how to improve farm production. Agriculture extension agents

also use extension teaching methods to educate farmers such as pig farmers on how to increase physical productivity and profitability.

There are two major systems of pig production prevailing in Enugu State namely; the traditional/extensive system and the intensive system (Ezeibe, 2010). The pigs under the traditional system are left to scavenge and roam about searching for feeds. This system is characterized by the use of indigenous, unimproved breeds, low quality feeds and poor management resulting to low productivity (Akinyosoye, 1999). This extensive system appears to be the simplest and cheapest since the pig farmer does not spend much money on feeds and housing. It is usually practiced by peasant, small-scale, subsistent pig farmers.

The intensive pig production system involves total confinement of the pigs which requires huge capital investment. Intensive system is characterized by the use of improved exotic breeds, proper housing, adequate feeding and veterinary services coupled with good management practices (Ezeibe, 2010). Intensive pig production is more common in Enugu State as well as the entire South East geo-political zone of Nigeria. An intensive piggery may carry sow herds of about 40 to 100 of exotic breeds or hybrids with optimum condition of housing, feeding and other management practices in order to ensure maximum output (Ekele, 2004). The housing comprises of modern, permanent structures which encourage easy disposal of faeces and effluent, providing maximum comfort and security for the pigs.

Pig production technologies are part of agrarian technologies used in pig production which are necessitated by population growth, changing climate, markets and needs (Oladele, 2002). Technologies are described as ways of doing things that are based on modern knowledge about science. The level of technology affects output in the production process (Robert and Ben, 2009). Pig production technologies can be in form of building design, feeding system, management practices and methods of controlling diseases and parasites in pig farms

(Kelly, 2005). The adoption of production technologies by farmers usually follow a 5-step process which include, awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and adoption or rejection.

Production in agriculture involves the use of factors of production such as land, labour, capital and management as inputs to obtain output. In pig production, resources are utilized to make goods and services which have value (John, 2003). Production in this study refers to the process of rearing pigs from farrowing to finishing stages in a pig farm as well as transportation and marketing of live pigs and pork. Productivity is the amount of the output per unit of input achieved by a firm, industry or a country (Robert and Ben, 2009). It is the rate at which goods are produced and the quantity of output in relation to the work, time and utilized in producing them. Productivity in economic term is used to describe how well or how efficient an economy’s resources are used in the process of production (Arene, 2008). However, productivity per worker can be increased by longer hours (man hours), more effort or improved skills on the part of labour force, more capital, equipment, improved technology and better management (John, 2003). Productivity is a broad concept comprising of physical productivity (physical output) and financial productivity (financial return) of an industry or enterprise. In pig production, physical productivity include the number of piglets, adult pigs, pork, lard, bristles, pig skin, pig manure and hooves realized from the farm per unit of input. Financial productivity refers to the amount of money (revenue) emanating from the sale of physical products. It is the difference between these sales (income) and the input (expenditure) that gives either the profit or loss in the pig production business.

The factors that may influence the productivity of pig farms include; educational level of farmers, types of pig production technologies adopted, incidence of diseases and parasites, finance, farmer education, choice of pig breeds, housing, feeds and feeding, and system of management of pig farms. All these factors influence productivity either positively or negatively thereby positively or negatively affecting the performance of the pig farms.

Constraints to pig production are the problems, hinderances and set backs experienced by pig farms which lead to low productivity and profitability. Anukwu and Ebong (2011) identified many pig production constraints in Akwa Ibom State which included: high cost of feeds, inadequate capital, high cost of medication and drugs, poor extension services, high cost of transportation, scarcity of skilled labour and poor breeding stock. Adesehinwa, Aribido, Oyediji and Obiniyi (2003) also identified some problems facing livestock production which included; weather fluctuation, diseases and parasites attack, religious beliefs, illiteracy, poverty and insufficient animal feeds. Some of these problems are likely to affect pig farms in Enugu State resulting to poor production performance of some pig farms.

Strategies are well planned series of skillful actions for achieving stated goals (Gekara, Garner and Dunbar, 2009). Every business including pig production has its own peculiar problems requiring solutions so as to be successful. Strategies are usually mapped out to improve physical productivity and profitability of pig farms. These strategies include improved methods of stocking, housing, feeding, diseases and parasites control, adoption of modern pig production technologies, effective marketing of pigs and pig products, financial aids, culling of old and unproductive pigs, and sale of pig manure. These actions can help in increasing productivity, supply of pork, other pig products and farm profit. This study sought to determine the strategies for improving the physical productivity and profitability of pig farms in Enugu State.

Performance is a measure of achievement, ability or capacity on a particular task, job or work (Olaitan and Ali, 1997). Performance in real term can be positive or negative, good or poor and high or low. Performance implies how well or badly a person, company, industry, farm, an animal does a particular job or activity. In this study, performance relates to how well or badly pig farms produce required output (pig products). Good performance will lead to high productivity and profitability while poor performance will result to low productivity as well as

low profitability. Performance indicators in pig production include; number of pigs produced per sow per year, number of litters per sow per year, number of piglets born alive, birth weight, weaning age and weight, market or adult weight, feed conversion ratio, quantity of pork and number of pigs produced per farm per year, and number of bags of manure produced per farm per year (Michael, 2003). Performance results for piglets, weaners and finishers are usefully combined to assess pig performance from farrowing to sale (Michael, 2003).

Production performance is the result of how well the pig farm has functioned either profitability or achieved a lot using available inputs (Lewins, 2007). It is really an indicator of economic progress in the pig farm with respect to this study. The record of the production performance parameters, sales and total revenue in relation to various inputs applied and their costs were computed so as to determine the performance of the pig farms in Enugu state within the period under study.

It is worthy of note that peasant pig farmers used traditional pig production technologies such as local breeds of pigs, scavenging or extensive system of pig rearing, feeding of animal with less nutritious feeds, low level of hygiene and poor management practices resulting to low productivity. Nowadays, commercial pig farmers in Enugu State are more interested in the application of pig production technologies to increase productivity. Holness (2007); John (2011); NAERLS (2010); Osaro (1995) and Serres (1999) identified various pig production technologies in terms of management practices such as stocking, housing, feeding, diseases and parasites control, record keeping and marketing of pigs and pig products. Some pig production technologies include: use of improved breeds, proper housing, artificial insemination, castration of male piglets, cleaning, washing and disinfecting pens regularly, nose ringing, teeth clipping, creep feeding, wet feeding, phase feeding, vaccinating young pigs against diseases, regular farm record keeping and improved marketing systems. These aforementioned pig production practices help to determine the amount of profit margins made in the farms.

Profit is an excess of the receipts over the spending of a business during any period (John, 2003). Profit is one of the measures of business performance. The direct opposite of profit in business is loss which is an excess of spending over receipts. Profit exists when the total revenue (TR) is greater than the total cost (TC) of production. Profitability is an indicator of the amount of gain made by a business enterprise (Ngwu, 2000). It is necessary to determine the production performance of pig farms in relation to the total inputs (cost of production), and output (revenue) through careful analysis.

Analysis is an examination of something in order to understand it better. Analysis involves thorough examination and explanation of all the component parts of something in order to have full understanding of what is being discussed (Sharma, Leung and Zaleski, 1997). In this study, analysis is the examination of all aspects of the pig production such as fixed inputs, variable inputs, their quantities and costs together with the revenue (output) accruing from the pig farms in Enugu State. Analysis of all components gives clear indication of the productivity and profitability of the pig farms. This study addressed the issue of determining physical productivity and profitability of pig farms in Enugu state as well as the factors militating against pig production and determining intervention strategies for improvement in the pig enterprise.

In Nigeria, the daily animal protein consumption is declining due to high poverty rate, rapid population growth and the ban on importation of foreign meat since the year 2001 (F.O.S., 2007). The World Health Organisation (WHO) (2007) recommended quantity of protein (85g/person/day) to be consumed by Nigerians has not been attained. There is inadequate supply and intake of animal protein as more of plant protein are consumed. There is the need to increase domestic production of animals such as pigs to narrow the animal protein deficit gap among Nigerian consumers.

Pig production is one of the livestock programmes assisted by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to beef up animal protein supply in the country. Despite this assistance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (2008b) revealed that pig production is relatively less in terms of herds compared to other classes of livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep and poultry. There is therefore the need to investigate the reasons behind this downward trend in pig production, and seek ways of improvement so as to reverse this situation by analyzing the production performance of pig farms in the state.

Moreover, swine production is a policy issue in Enugu State and needs to be pursued seriously (Enugu State Government, 2009). In line with this, the current plan of Enugu State Government in the area of livestock production is to concentrate on pig and poultry production (Enugu State Government, 2009). In contrary, most livestock farmers, investors and Fadama III beneficiaries in the state prefer poultry to pig production. This has resulted to low supply of pork despite the fact that there is increased demand for pork during festivals and in hotels, restaurants and eating houses within the state.

Many livestock farmers and investors are not willing to be engaged in pig production business and many of them that managed to embark on the business failed soon after establishing the business. The reasons for the failure of the business have not been determined hence this present study. The trend needs to be changed to boost pork production and narrow the animal protein deficit gap in the state. In view of this, there is need to examine the existing pig farms in terms of physical productivity, costs and revenue so as to determine their current status.

Also there is no documented empirical research records of physical productivity and profitability of pig farms in Enugu State for use by pig farmers as previous studies on pig production in the state did not analyse the physical productivity of pig farms but only the profitability of pig farms. This study was therefore, conducted to analyse the physical

productivity and profitability of the existing pig farms in the state. The study sought to identify types of breeds of pigs kept, productive characteristics of pig breeds, pig production technologies adopted by farmers, pig production constraints and intervention strategies for improving the physical productivity and profitability of pig farms in Enugu State.

The main purpose of this study was to analyse the production performance and profitability of pig farms in Enugu State with a view to identifying gaps, needs and constraints that should be addressed properly to improve physical productivity and farm profits.

1.    identify breeds of pigs kept by rural and urban pig farmers.

2.    determine the productive characteristics of pig breeds kept by farmers.

3.    identify the pig production technologies adopted by pig farmers.

4.    determine physical productivity of pig farms in Enugu state.

5.    determine the profit margins of pig farms in Enugu State.

6.    determine the productivity constraints of pig farms.

7.    determine strategies for improving physical productivity of pig farms in Enugu State.

8.    determine strategies for improving the profitability of pig farms in Enugu State.

The information obtained from the findings of this study will be beneficial to pig farmers, agricultural extension agents, Agricultural Education students and teachers, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education, researchers and Research Institutes, Universities and other institutions of learning, curriculum planners, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the general public. The information obtained can be made available to pig farmers and others through workshops, seminars, conferences, publications and training manuals.

The findings of this study on type of breeds kept by farmers and productive characteristics of pig breeds will provide a guide for other farmers and investors who want to enter into the pig business on selecting appropriate and highly productive breeds of pigs for establishing new farms and to replace already existing less productive ones.

The results of this study on the types of pig production technologies adopted by farmers will provide information and a guide which will help other pig farmers and investors to apply improved pig production technologies in their various farms with the assistance of agricultural extension agents. The information obtained by agricultural extension agents from the findings of this study on the types of pig production technologies, pig productivity constraints and strategies for improving physical productivity and profitability of pig farms will help them map out improvement strategies, design extension training packages and guidelines for training and retraining of other pig farmers and prospective investors on how to embark on profitable pig farming.

The findings of this study on pig productivity constraints and strategies for improving physical productivity and profitability of pig farms will also provide useful information for State Ministry of Agriculture, and Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme (ENADEP), to integrate the findings into training packages.

The findings of this study on pig productivity constraints and strategies for improving physical productivity and profitability of pig farms will help the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to organize seminars, workshops and conferences on profitable pig production for sustainability. The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) will also use the findings on strategies for improving physical productivity and profitability of pig farms in the training of other farmers and prospective investors, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) beneficiaries, unemployed and interested youths (trainees) on pig production. This will enable them to acquire relevant skills on-the-job especially during apprenticeship scheme. The data on

pig breeds, costs and revenue of pig farms will guide the pig farmers on the choice of more productive breeds for stocking and the required input costs and corresponding output (revenue) in pig business. This will also show the livestock farmers and investors how viable pig business is in the state.

The study on profit margins of pig farms applied both CIPP Evaluation model and Project/Programme Evaluation model. Appropriate use of these models in this study helped in realizing the objective on profit margins of pig farms in Enugu State. The Innovation-Decision Process Theory of Adoption was applied in identifying pig production technologies adopted by pig farmers in Enugu State.

The general public will also benefit from the findings of this study because the appropriate use of the entire findings by pig farmers, agricultural extension agents, institutions, governments and non-governmental organizations will lead to more investments in pig production resulting to increased pork production, supply and consumption.

Eight research questions were asked in line with the specific purpose of the study as follows:

1.    What breeds of pigs are kept by rural and urban pig farmers?

2.    What are the productive characteristics of pig breeds kept by farmers?

3.    What pig production technologies are adopted by pig farmers?

4.    What are the physical productivity of pig farms in Enugu State?

5.    What profit margins are realized by pig farms in Enugu State?

6.    What are the productivity constraints of pig farms?

7.    What are the strategies for improving physical productivity of pig farms in Enugu state?

8.    What are the strategies for improving profitability of pig farms in Enugu state?