Gender Differences in Traditional Pig Farmers’ Socio-Demographics, Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Reproductive Biotechnology in Zambia
Gender Differences in Traditional Pig Farmers’ Socio-Demographics, Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Reproductive Biotechnology in Zambia
Rubaijaniza Abigaba1,4*, Pharaoh C. Sianangama1, Progress H. Nyanga2, Edwell S. Mwaanga3, Wilson N.M. Mwenya1
ABSTRACT
Pig rearing with reproductive biotechnology utilization for increased production and productivity was recently recommended to reduce the animal protein deficit. This study aimed to assess the socio-demographic characteristics, awareness levels and attitudes of male and female traditional pig farmers toward reproductive biotechnology application. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was employed to obtain sex-disaggregated data from 622 respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, mean, and standard error of the mean as well as inferential statistics, namely, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test, independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and the post-hoc tests were used to analyse the data. Out of 622 respondents, 66.9% were females while 33.1% were males. This study revealed significant association between the respondents’ gender and their education status (P<0.001), income status (P<0.001), land size (P<0.01), rearing experience (P<0.05), and flock size (P<0.05). The age of respondents was not associated (P>0.05) with gender. Most (55.5%) male respondents as well as the majority of females (83.4%) had low awareness. The female respondents had lower biotechnology awareness than the males (p <0.001). The male respondents had significantly more favourable attitude evaluations than their female counterparts (p <0.01). The overall mean attitude scores for males (3.91±0.03) and females (3.81±0.02) were generally positive. The influence of awareness level on the mean attitude scores was significant for both male (P<0.001) and female respondents (P<0.001). In conclusion, this study has revealed significant disparities in socio-demographic characteristics, awareness, and attitudes between male and female traditional pig farmers. The observed gender gaps, if not attended to, may negatively impact on efforts to improve pig production through reproductive biotechnology application.
Keywords | Attitudes, Awareness, Gender, Reproductive biotechnology, Traditional pig farmers
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July 2022
Vol. 10, Iss. 7, Pages 1423-1658
