Poultry as a tool for poverty alleviation: opportunities and problems related to poultry production at village level.

Poultry, the largest livestock group, account for more than 30% of all animal protein. However, this production is mainly based on commercial poultry, which accounts for only 20% of the total poultry population. The remaining 80% of poultry are found in traditional production systems entitled ‘low input – low output’ systems. Here the mortality is around 80% within the first year after hatching. The constraints for improving productivity are, however, not only related to diseases (e.g. Newcastle disease) but also to management systems, lack of supplementary feeding, predators, and inappropriate breeds. Despite their low productivity, village poultry are owned by almost all poor households in developing countries and are thought to be an excellent tool in poverty alleviation due to their quick turnover and low investment requirement. In Bangladesh, a successful production model has been developed which currently involves more than 2 million women (households). This model has a structured approach to improve smallholder poultry production and health, and socio-economic development at village level and it addresses both technical and organisational issues. These aspects are discussed in this paper. POULTRY is by far the largest livestock group and is estimated to be about 14 000 million, consisting mainly of chickens, ducks and turkeys (FAO 1999). In total, poultry products (egg and meat) constitute 30% of all animal protein consumed worldwide. Within the last 10 years, this proportion has increased from 20% to 30% of all animal protein and is predicted to increase to 40% before the year 2015 (IFPRI 2000). Poultry production in most developing countries is based mainly on scavenging backyard systems. For example, it has been estimated that 80% of the poultry population in Africa is found in traditional production systems (Gueye 1998) called low input/low output systems. Little attention is given to this means of production even though 30% to 100% of the animal protein consumed in some villages is from this source. This low input/output practice has been a traditional component of small farms all over the developing world for centuries and is thought to continue as such in the future. The low output is primarily caused by diseases, lack of supplementary feed and sub-optimal management (Pandey 1992; Bagust 1994 and 1999; Permin and Bisgaard 1999). Poultry production still accounts for the major part of all meat produced in many developing countries, and is an integral component of nearly all rural, peri-urban and urban households. It is of considerable significance to the rural as well as the national economy and is also an important source of animal protein (FAO 1999). Women and children are generally in charge of poultry husbandry. Generally, poultry scavenge in the vicinity of the house during daytime where they may be given sorghum, broken grains, maize bran or other waste products as additional feed. In many circumstances, they are not given anything at all, but have to walk long distances (up to four kilometres per day) to find feed and water (Gueye 1998). Additional feed is then occasionally given at night where the animals are kept inside the houses or in simple shelters. The level of productivity is very low compared to high-input systems; for example, a scavenging hen lays only 30 eggs per year, while an industrialised battery hen lays 280 eggs annually. Disease prevention measures are rare and high mortality rates are common (Pandey 1992). Studies 1 Network for Smallholder Poultry Development, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Bulowsvej 17, 1870 Frederiksberg, Denmark