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Abstract
Rabbit production is increasingly becoming a source of livelihood to many households in Nigeria. Unfortunately, a recent incidence of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD), which is a virulent and rapidly spreading disease of rabbits adversely affected the Nigerian rabbit industry and caused significant economic loss to farmers. Hence, this study assessed the coping strategies adopted by rabbit farmers as response to the RHD outbreak in the study area. A snowball sampling technique was adopted for selecting 120 affected rabbit farmers from whom data utilized for the study were collected using structured questionnaire. The obtained data were analysed using descriptive statistics to describe the rabbit farmers based on their socioeconomic characteristics and the different coping strategies adopted; and Multivariate Probit (MVP) Regression Model to determine the factors influencing the rabbit farmersˈ adoption of coping strategies. The result from the MVP analysis revealed that age of the farmer, size of household, membership of cooperative, extension contacts, amount of credit accessed, income per rabbit production cycle, and income from other sources significantly influenced rabbit farmersˈ adoption of coping strategies. It is, therefore, recommended that the farmers should join farming cooperatives so that they can have access to useful resources and relevant information that can help them cope with the risks involved in the business. In addition, extension education and outreach should be frequently provided to the rabbit farmers to avail them of advisory services that can help with mitigating the impact of the risks involved in the business.