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Abstract
Poultry production is one of the most important economic activities to the smallholder
farmers of Kenya. However, constraints are evident which have resulted in low
production of poultry and poultry products to meet population demand and for socio-economic
sustainability of the livelihoods. The objective of the study was to determine resource use
efficiency, optimal production levels, production systems of small-scale poultry farmers in Bureti
district, Kenya. Primary data were obtained using a set of structured questionnaires from 300
representative farmers drawn from the study area using cross-sectional sampling techniques.
Data were analyzed by Cobb-Douglas production function. The results showed that the
resources used in poultry production were underutilized while others were over utilized. The
efficiency indicators for poultry feeds (0.0603) showed that poultry feeds were inefficiently used.
Labour efficiency indicator (-0.091) showed that farmers were not only grossly inefficient in the
use of the resource but also over utilized it while the efficiency indicator (60.86) for poultry
equipment implied the resource was inefficiently utilized. It is recommended that farmers should
use inputs more efficiently (particularly feeds which were being inefficiently utilized) by reducing
their levels of employment.