The technical material consisted of a questionnaire structured in several parts,including the identification of the breeder, the personnel of the farm, the infrastructure,the feeding, the motivation and the financing, a camera for pictures and a decameter for measuring the size of the breeding material. The biological material was essentially made up of the sheep found on the farms. They were of different breeds, of various physiological stages and ages.Although the choice of herders was intended to be random in the field, It was not. Face to the mistrust of the breeders, the approach was modified . Only those with more than five animals were considered in the sampling. The languages used during thesurvey were Senoufo, Malinke and French. Through direct observation and the questionnaire, information regarding the characteristics of the farms, hydroponic grow table the feed composition, the sources of water supply, were collected. The size of the farm was measured with a meter. The study employed descriptive statistical methods in order to analyze the data collected. There was cross checking of the questionnaires to ensure that the questions were answered properly.
The data was first divided into themes and subthemes before being analyzed. Percentages were used in the analysis and presented in a tabular form to enhance proper interpretation of the data. The surveys and observations conducted in the city of Korhogo made it possible to identify sheep breeding sites in the neighborhoods and villages of the city of Korhogo, despite the influence of accelerated urbanization. A total of 84 farms were recorded in the districts and villages, with the largest number observed in the Soba district. In the other districts, the number of farms varied from 1 to12 . Among the sheep farmers identified in the city of Korhogo, 86% were men, and the majority of these men were between 31 and 50 years old. This could be explained by the fact that in the city, women are more involved in growing and marketing food products. According to CIRAD , women represent the essential link in the value chain of market gardeners in Cote d’Ivoire. Dagnogo showed that the development of market gardening is an opportunity for women empowerment in the region of poro. However, sheep farming is a man’sbusiness. These results corroborate those of . According to these authors, small ruminant farming is not only a predominantly male activity,but also an activity carried out by older men who are married to more than one woman. Women represent only 11% of the participants in the survey.
With regard to the level of literacy, the results of our surveys showed that the proportion of literate herders in the city of Korhogo was 51%. According to their study, 76% of livestock managers went to school.This is certainly an advantage for farmers in terms of setting up health protection and monitoring the feeding of small ruminants. Contrary to herders, flood tray found that 85% of onions producers are illiterate in the region of Poro. The results of this study also showed that a proportion of the farmers are motivated by the love and passion they have for sheep, 45% of the farmers practiced breeding to provide for their needs and 7% practiced by personal choice. This could be justified by the fact that the main objective of sheep breeders is to generate income. However, 1% practiced this activity for ceremonies and sacrifices.
These results corroborate those of Diomande , who states that 60%of the breeders are motivated by generating income. In addition, another 40% practiced this activity to cope with traditional ceremonies, religious sacrifices and baptisms.He states that this can be explained by the high cost of living and the numerous financial burdens of parents . Regarding the age of the farm, the majority of the farmers surveyed have between0 and 10 years of experience. This was followed respectively by 24% of breeders with 11 to 20 years of experience, 10% of 21 to 30 years of experience and 8%of breeders with more than 30 years of experience. In fact, farmers use family labor to manage their farms and that could be justified by the fact that parents initiate their children to livestock farming at an early age. These results corroborate those of , who assert that the role of children is decisive in the raising of small ruminants, and that the labor force is mainly family based.The observations made in each zone have allowed us to show that the herders use huts or pens as shelters for their animals.