Characterisation of Small Scale Feed Mills in a Developing Country

Abstract

There are many cottage scale animal farms in Nigeria that are sustained by the existence of small scale feed mills. The growth of these small scale feed mills is affected by some problems. A study to investigate some of the technical problems in small scale feed mills was conducted using Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria as a case study. Ten feed mills were randomly selected and investigated while thirty workers were assessed.

The characteristics of the feed mills were investigated in terms of capacity, number of workers, mill operations and equipment used and the problems were investigated by studying four different areas which include; power source; unit operations/equipment; energy utilization pattern and workplace safety/hygiene. A questionnaire was designed to elicit their operations and activities and to gather the necessary data required to ascertain problems being encountered while empirical formulas were used in energy analysis.

The average capacity of the small scale feed mills is 2.87 tonnes/day with an average of 6 workers of which 4 are male. 12.3 litres of diesel, 120.19kWh of electricity from the national grid and 92.64 MJ of manual energy is consumed daily. The maximum amount of energy available is approximately 1620MJ/day. 80% of the workers questioned have suffered from some minor respiratory problems. Other problems identified include; high cost of power, high rodent infestation, dirty and dusty mill environs, etc.

Good management and good equipment design are some of the specific interventions suggested to solve the problems identified