Socioeconomic characteristics of Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) farmers in the middle belt of Ghana

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the socioeconomic characteristics of Guinea pig farmers in the middle belt of Ghana. The study was carried out in two phases. With phase one, 54 Guinea pig farmers were selected using snowball sampling procedure to obtain their demographic characteristics. In the second phase however, Fifty four (54) Guinea pig approximately four (4) weeks old were procured from the farmers and reared intensively for four months to access the production cost of Guinea pig through on-farm study. Data analysis was carried out using R statistical software version 4.2.1 and SPSS version 21.0. Majority of Guinea pig producers were males (88.89%) whilst female were (11.11%). Again, most (62.96%) farmers had received some form of formal education. A lot of the respondents (83.33%) purchased their breed stock from their neighbors. Over 85.48% of the household respondents interviewed had the herd size between 1 and 9. Several (66.66%) respondents received below GH¢32.79 (US$5.74) as revenue from the sales of one Guinea pig. On-farm study indicated that the production cost of raising one cavy from birth to maturity (90 days) was GH¢32.16 (US$5.63). Basically, the overall revenue from the sales of one Guinea pig yielded GH¢66.04 (US$11.57) with GH¢33.88 (US$5.93) as the profit on each animal. Hence, in conclusion the local Guinea pig in the middle belt of Ghana are prolific, easy to produce by all classes of people, which provide valuable food and income, require small capital to start and have an appreciable return on investment.