The Effect of Improved Biosecurity Practices on the Cost Efficiency of Smallholder Poultry Farmers in Nyanza, Kenya

The poultry sector in Sub-Saharan Africa faces multiple challenges, including low productivity and increased health risks. One of the key constraints to productivity is poultry diseases, which have also led to the growing concern of antimicrobial resistance. There is an urgent need to implement strategies that tackle the dual challenges of diseases and low productivity. The use of conventional clinical treatment is often ineffective and increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance. On the contrary, preventive mechanisms, also known as biosecurity measures, have been shown to effectively reduce infection and improve health outcomes. However, empirical evidence points to the slow uptake of biosecurity practices. This study explores the link between biosecurity adoption and the performance of poultry farms. The study employs a three-stage estimation procedure: first, it employs a latent class analysis model to describe adoption patterns, then constructs a stochastic cost frontier to estimate cost efficiency, and lastly, estimates differences in performance by classes of biosecurity adoption. The latent class model reveals three classifications for biosecurity based on low, moderate, and high adoption behaviors. The output of the stochastic frontier analysis shows that poultry farmers in Nyanza are largely cost-efficient. However, the study demonstrates that increased use of biosecurity practices enhances farmers’ cost efficiency. Further, the inefficiency model reveals that farmers’ level of education, experience in poultry production, flock size, and the farm size are the determinants of inefficiency. The study recommends enhanced efforts to promote the uptake of biosecurity measures for increased poultry productivity.