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Type : Short Communication

Constraints to Adoption of Beekeeping Management Practices among Beekeepers in Osun State, Nigeria

O.W. Kareem, K.D. Kokate and P.B. Kharde

Abstract

Beekeeping is a profitable enterprise that has not been fully explored in Nigeria because of many constraints which serve as impediments for full adoption of its improved management practices. The study examines the constraints to adoption of beekeeping management practices in Osun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 200 beekeepers from different beekeepers’ zones in the study area. Well structured interview schedule and focus group discussions were used to collect the data. The findings of the study revealed that majority (78.5%) of the respondents were male and 70 per cent of them fell within the age of 30 – 50 years. Of 200 respondents, 64 per cent had post secondary education while only 2 per cent had no formal education. Most (36.5%) of the respondents had 8 – 12 years of beekeeping experience with fellow beekeepers as major source of their information. Majority (77%) of the respondents had annual income of NR51,000 – NR100,000 and the main source of their capital for beekeeping was through personal savings. The extent of adoption of improved beekeeping management practices by the respondents was at medium (Mean = 96.12, SD = 5.15). Out of the ten constraints mentioned by the respondents’, lack of honey collection and processing centre had the highest Priority Index of 1.596 with lack of cooperative society having the least (PI = 0.019). The study recommends that the government should make beekeeping a sustainable agribusiness by providing necessary equipment and processing facilities for the beekeepers in order to expand technology, boost employment and honey production.

Keyword: Adoption; Beekeeping; Beekeeper; Constraints; Management practices;

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