Abstract:
The Landim hen is, in Mozambique, the species that, either by the number of breeders or by the order of preferences, occupies the first place in a ranking of priorities. However, the final product of poultry production in the family sector is low, because it is obtained with the minimum of inputs in terms of facilities, disease control, supplementation and general management. Newcastle disease is one of the biggest constraints in the production of landim chicken in Mozambique and contributes about 50% to 100% of annual deaths of landim chicken thus increasing vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition. One of the forms of control of the DN could necessarily involve extension services. Studies that analyze the role of rural extension in Mozambique are scarce. For this reason, this research emerges, which analyzes the role of rural extension in the control of Newcastle Disease in the Matutuine District. The research had as general objective to analyze the role of the Rural extension in the Livestock Production Systems of the District of Matutuine and had as specific objectives to describe the social profile of the producers and the extensionists of the District of Matutuine, to identify the methods used by the producers of the District of Matutuine before and after the intervention of the extension worker for the control of Newcastle disease and to identify the methods used by extension workers in the control of the disease in the Matutuine District. For this purpose, a questionnaire was applied, as well as semi-structured interviews with 200 producers of fowl and 11 extension workers from the Matutuine District. The data were coded and analyzed with the aid of the Microsoft Office Excel 2010 computer program. In general, the study showed that, in relation to the methods used by extension workers, they focus more on the group method. It was also found that before the intervention of the extension workers, the producers basically used medicinal plants for the control of Newcastle Disease after the intervention, these same producers started to use various methods, such as biosafety measures and the use of the vaccine. Regarding the profile of producers, it was found that the vast majority have a low level of education, a higher frequency of female poultry farmers, the purpose of breeding is for consumption and sale and agriculture is the most important activity. The level of training of extension workers is mostly average, in terms of gender and consists mostly of males and is mostly composed of young people aged between 31 and 40 years. (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)
