Scope of Sheep Producers’ Awareness on the Economic Values and Development of Sheep Production in North and West Kordofan States

Abstract

A study was conducted in 2014 - 2015 in North and West Kordofan States, in five localities, to highlight the scope of sheep production awareness on the economic values and development of sheep productivity. A stratified random sample of 206 producers from the two states was selected and the data collected was analyzed by (SPSS) program and Chi-Square test. The main results found, were 84% of the producers are dependent on traditional animal production system; the difference among localities is not statistically significant (P>0.05). Also the results showed that 84% of the producers are dependent on natural grazing , herd structure was unbalanced, no records, the producers practiced mixed breeding , and 90.8% of them are dependent on natural animal health with no veterinary interference. Trading is not according to market demand where 83.5% sell live animals losing the added value but the difference between localities is not statistically significant ( P >0.05).Also 86% of the producers do not practice insurance and 82.5% have no society or union affiliations. It is concluded that the economic awareness of the sheep producers in Kordufan States is very low which lead to no benefits to the producer from the methods and means of production improvement in the area, indicating need for more awareness on the economic value of sheep breeding and production.