Gender differential in livestock production within agro-pastoral households in Ido local government area of Oyo State, Nigeria

This study examined gender differences in livestock production within agro-pastoral households in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. A purposive sampling technique was employed due to the concentration of agro-pastoralists’ camps in the study area. 120 respondents were sampled for this study which was subjected to interview schedule in collecting data and data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that 98.3% of the respondents were married, mostly of the Islamic religion (99.2%) and had no formal education had no formal education. All the respondents were from Fulani ethnic background. 45.0% had a relatively large household size of 6-10 persons. Male agro-pastoralists engaged in cattle rearing, sheep, goats, while the females engaged in milk processing, fowl rearing, and trading. Also, 92.5% were faced with a lack of livestock safety due to free range system of production as their main constraint in the study area. A significant difference existed between male and female agro-pastoralists income in the study area (t=3.156, p=0.002) while there was no significant difference in access to production resources between male and female agro-pastoralists (t=0.293, p=0.770). It was concluded that differences exhibited between male and female in livestock production in the study area. It is recommended that sensitisation should be done by gender production resources and management towards increasing their herd sizes and livestock products.