Abstract

SALAH-ELKASHEF, Ola Mamdouh; SARMIENTO-FRANCO, Luis; TORRES-ACOSTA, J. Felipe de Jesús  and  FERNANDEZ-SOUZA, Lilia. Understanding the information acquisition sources of backyard chicken production practices amongst rural mayan women in Yucatán, México. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2017, vol.14, n.2, pp.219-237. ISSN 1870-5472.

This study was conducted to identify the information acquisition sources of backyard chicken production practices amongst rural women in Yucatan. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and face-to-face individual interviews with a pre-designed questionnaire were employed for collecting data from two rural villages. Within each village, three focus group sessions of Mayan women were held involving 10-12 participants each. Participants were selected according to their skills level of backyard chicken practices. The results revealed that family, friends/neighbors, own-personal experience and feed suppliers were significantly the most important information sources used by rural women. Concerning the preferred sources by participants; extension agents, trainers/ specialists, family, demonstrations methods, veterinarian and friends/neighbors were significantly the most preferred sources. The technical areas of backyard chicken production which women received information about were feeds and feeding, housing systems, diseases control, marketing and reproduction. Findings also showed that unavailability of extension agents and cost of veterinary services were the most important constraints affecting information acquisition. The most important recommendations were the need for extension services and training programs as modern information sources for improving their managerial skills and knowledge on backyard chicken production practices.

Keywords : backyard chicken; group discussions; information acquisition sources; production practices.

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