Exploring stakeholder willingness to adopt alternative poultry feeds: Insights from Nepal

Abstract

The notion of alternative feed sources is novel to Nepali farmers. There are no prior studies assessing the perception and readiness of stakeholders, including farmers and feed companies, in the poultry production sector to accept alternative feed sources. This study examines the perceptions of stakeholders involved in poultry production, the factors influencing farmers’ willingness to adopt alternative feed sources, and their intention to produce such feed sources. Randomly selected 196 farmers and 23 feed companies were surveyed in 2023 in the Chitwan district, the hub of the Nepalese poultry business. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics and binary logit regression. Findings revealed that 62.8 % of respondent farmers and all the feed companies had a positive perception of alternative feed sources, with 51.5 % of farmers and 43.5 % of feed companies being willing to accept them. However, only 13.8 % of farmers and 21.7 % of feed companies intended to produce these sources. Education (p < 0.05), perception (p < 0.01), and farm economic performance (p < 0.01) significantly influence farmers' willingness to accept alternative feed sources. Altogether, stakeholders in poultry production are generally willing to adopt alternative poultry feeds, but producing alternative feed on their own would be expectedly challenging due to the demands for knowledge and investment in infrastructure.