Assessment of Risks and Uncertainties in Poultry Farming in Kwara State, Nigeria

This study was designed to assess the risks and uncertainties encountered by poultry farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study describes the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, identify the risks and uncertainties encountered by the farmers, determines the level of severity of the risks and uncertainties, and identifies the coping strategies employed by the farmers. Primary data obtained from 99 registered poultry farmers selected through multistage sampling technique were used for the study. These were complemented with data from published and grey literature. Descriptive statistics and 3-point Likert scale were used to analyze the data. The study shows that poultry farming in the study area is practiced mainly by young, small-scale farmers, who are married, with high level of formal education but had little access to extension services. The major sources of risks encountered by the farmers were severe weather fluctuation, lack of veterinary services, disease outbreak, transportation problems, parasites and severe price fluctuation of birds. The study further revealed that the severe risks encountered by the farmers were disease outbreak, poor parent stock, accumulation of dung, severe weather fluctuation, lack of veterinary services and transportation problems. The study therefore calls for improved extension services, good transportation facilities, adequate veterinary services, market information by government and relevant stakeholders as well as formation of cooperative socities by the farmers

Institutional Communication and Administrative Effectiveness of Universities in Kwara State, Nigeria

The need for effective institutional communication in any social systems cannot be over-emphasized. Communication is crucial to the survival and effectiveness of any organization. It is on the basis of this background that this study examined institutional communication and administrative effectiveness of universities in Kwara State. The study adopted a correlational research design. The population of the study was 409 participants drawn from Principal Officers, Deans, Head of Departments, Directors of Units and Directorate of Information and Communication Units in all the universities. Thereafter, purposive sampling technique was used to select 272 participants for this study. Two instruments entitled “Institutional Communication Questionnaire” (ICQ) and “Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire” (AEQ) were developed for data collection from the respondents. Validity and reliability of the instrument were ensured and a co-efficient value of Alpha 0.68 and 0.72 was obtained for ICQ and AEQ respectively. The finding of the study showed statistically that there was relationship between institutional communication and administrative effectiveness with calculated (r-value 0.647 < pvalue 0.000). The study recommends that university administrators should ensure that other institutional communication processes should be adequately and effectively employed to complement marketing communication; university administrators should improve on the use of institutional communication as a tool of sound decision-making and management communication channels should be encouraged and improved in the universities as a means of passing or transferring information