Perceived impact of social media usage on poultry production: evidence from poultry farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria

Social media has emerged as a transformative tool for agricultural development, yet empirical evidence on its specific effects on poultry production remains limited, particularly in Nigeria. This study assessed the perceived impact of social media among 150 smallholder poultry farmers in Ogun State, selected through multistage sampling. Data were collected through a questionnaire and analysed using percentages, means, standard deviations, a chi-square test, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. Findings showed that 67.3% of respondents were male, 63.3% were married, with a mean age of 40.83 ± 10.74 years, and 80.0% had smartphone access. WhatsApp (mean = 1.65) and Facebook (mean = 1.61) were most frequently used for sourcing poultry management information and health updates. Social media positively impacted poultry production, notably by improving learning in poultry practices (mean = 1.85) and product marketing/sales (mean = 1.82). The high cost of Internet data (mean = 1.90) and erratic power supply (mean = 1.65) were major constraints. The level of education (χ² = 27.876, p < 0.01) and labour sources (χ² = 9.915, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with its perceived impact, as was the extent of social media usage (r = 0.729). The study demonstrates that even moderate social media engagement can meaningfully enhance knowledge acquisition, market access, and productivity among smallholder farmers, despite infrastructural barriers, and recommends subsidising data and devices, improving rural electricity access, developing moderated poultry-specific platforms, and targeted digital literacy training to amplify the social media benefits for sustainable poultry production and broader food security goals.