Environmental and Health Effects of Poultry Farm Operations in Diye-Bay, Zarmaganda Community of Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria
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Abstract
Poultry farms are rich sources of generating solid, gaseous and liquid waste materials, which if improperly managed may degrade the environment and pose public health risks. This study investigated the environmental and health effects of poultry farm operations in Diye-Bay, Zarmaganda community of Jos South LGA. Purposive and simple random techniques were used to select poultry farmers and household heads, respectively. Data were collected using structured quetionnaire, administered to 386 household heads. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, means, and percentages was computed using the SPSS-23 software to analyze the data collected. Results showed that 60% of the male gender participated in the study; 56% were within the the age bracket of 41-60 years old; 64% of them were married; 95% attended formal education and highly literate; 34% took to farming and 29% also engaged in trading; yet about 50% of them earned less than N100,000 monthly income. Results further showed that 64% of poultry farmers owned less than 201 birds, and 72% of them obtained less than 601 crates of eggs monthly. The popular environmental effects of poultry farm operations perceived by respondents were: rooster noise nuisance (ranked 1), water pollution (ranked 2), emission of GHGs (ranked 3), and global warming (ranked 4), among others; while the perceived health effects include itching of body parts (ranked 1), vector breeding (ranked 2), zoonotic diseases (ranked 3), breathing difficulty (ranked 4). Sequel to these environmental and public health concerns, the popular strategies for mitigation as advanced by the respondents were, policy and regulations (ranked 1), health surveillance (ranked 2), proper waste handling (ranked 3), and adequate farmer education (ranked 4). The paper called on the relevant authorities to regulate farm activities in order to safeguard the environment and public health.
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References
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