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Scavenging Poultry for Poverty Alleviation: a Review of Experiences with a Focus on Bangladesh

S M Fakhrul Islam
International Livestock Research Institute PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

M A Jabbar
International Livestock Research Institute PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Smallholder poultry as a tool for poverty alleviation has been developed and widely applied in Bangladesh. Parallel development of the concept has taken place in a number of countries and adaptation of Bangladesh model is also underway in a number of other countries with donor support from DANIDA, ADB, IFAD, the World Bank. Scavenging poultry is common in the rural areas of most developing countries and in some countries, there are efforts to support its development through such efforts have not been structured into formal models as in Bangladesh. The concept is appealing because through poultry many more people, especially poor and women, can be reached unlike any other species of livestock, and there is good donor interest as there is a dire shortage at project or programme levels for effective interventions to address poverty. More objective, inclusive and systematic impact studies are required to assess the characteristics of the actual beneficiaries reached by the projects, the impacts made (where, how and why), the indicators of success or failure and the sustainability of the model. Such knowledge is essential to guide the intended adaptation or replication underway in several countries or to guide further efforts in using poultry as a tool for poverty alleviation. Three major issues need to be considered in future studies. A pure scavenging system of poultry production, with all its limitations and potentials, may be used as an entry point for helping the poor to diversify activities as a pathway out of poverty but poultry alone may not be adequate to get out of poverty in the long run for every poor household. Widespread use of the strategy in different countries and socioeconomic and ecological situations will require policy and research support in several areas and these also need to be built into any project design and its impact assessment. If this is the key lesson from the three big projects implemented in fairly large areas over a decade, and if this is assumed as the key to the development of a sustainable approach to scavenging poultry for poverty alleviation, then it appears that all the experiences of the BRAC-DLS poultry model development and its evolution need to be put upside down in spite of its several positive achievements. Also, widely held belief among some professionals and practitioners that ‘the idea of smallholder poultry for poverty alleviation is well established’ (Funso Sonaiya, personal communication) needs to be significantly moderated until more sustainable scavenging systems can be established.

Keywords: PLDP, Rural poor, Smallholder, Livestock, Northwest regions, Resources for women, Delivery systems, Semi-scavenging, Day-old chicks

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Animal Health and Management

Commodity: Poverty, Micro-finance

Objectives:

The objectives of PLDP were: 1. To increase the income of rural poor families through the smallholder livestock enterprise model in 89 poor thanas in the north and northwest regions; 2. to increase access to, and control of, resources for women; and 3. to develop functional and sustained delivery systems for the smallholder semi-scavenging poultry farmers (particularly vaccines, medicines and scavenger-suitable day-old chicks).

Methodology:

According to Saleque (2000), BRAC considered poultry as a potential candidate activity for income generation among the landless, particularly destitute women, many of whom owned a few chickens. There were almost no job opportunities for the landless, disadvantaged women in the country, who were BRAC’s targets for relief and development work at that time. So it was conceived that poultry rearing in which these women were already engaged but at a minuscule level, could be an income-earning activity for a large number of landless, poor women. This decision to target poor women was a major factor in the future course of development of this initiative. The belief that relief-dependent ultra poor could be helped to undertake some income earning activities starting with a few chickens to gradually move away from relief to self-sustained livelihood activities was the basic foundation of the poultry model that eventually became a major development innovation.² Between 1978 and 1982 the BRAC poultry programme had no model or design, it was being done on an ad hoc basis. The programme included the supply of improved chicks, common disease prevention and training in improved rearing under scavenging conditions. It was then decided to involve women in the vaccination work and let them vaccinate for a fee as a source of income, using vaccines supplied free of cost from the local DLS office. However, it was observed that under this programme the government and other firms were supplying an inadequate number of pullets for delivery to the participating households and such pullets also faced high mortality in the scavenging rearing system. The model was a supply chain consisting of the following beneficiaries: • Model Breeder-Small low-cost parent farms with a breeding stock of 54 Fayoumi hens and the requisite number (6) of RIR cocks received either from the project site or directly from Government Poultry Farms. The birds are raised under a semi-scavenging system with balanced rations for producing quality fertile eggs to be used for hatching. The fertile eggs were to be sold to Mini Hatcheries but a substantial amount of the fertile eggs would be sold to the Key Rearers who would hatch them under local broody hens. • Mini Hatchery-Small low-cost hatcheries operated with solar energy and kerosene stove. Black pillows filled with rice husk were heated in the sun or by means of kerosene and the eggs were placed into a cylinder between two pillows for hatching. Each hatchery had the capacity to hatch 1000 chickens per month. The day-old chicks were sold to the Chick Rearers but Key Rearers also would purchase day-old chicks to be reared by the broody hens. • Chick Rearer-Small rearing farms, each with a capacity of 200-300 chickens per batch and 4 batches per year. The chickens were reared in low-cost houses from day-old to 8 weeks of age. The chickens were fed with balanced feed. The 8-week old birds were mainly to be sold to the Key Rearers within the same village development committee. • Key Rearers-Small farms with only around 5 crossbreed layers for the production of table eggs. The primary outputs were eggs and culled birds. The hens were kept under semi-scavenging conditions with 30-70% supplementary feed. Additionally, 4 local hens were kept to hatch preferably eggs from Model Breeders and rear chick from Mini Hatcheries. • Poultry workers-A number of poultry workers were trained to vaccinate the birds to control diseases. The vaccine was supplied free by the DLS through the Area Office of BRAC and the Poultry Workers charged a vaccination fee for providing the service. • Feed Seller-The feed sellers were trained to mix feed or sell pre-mixed feed as supplementary feed to the poultry keepers. They prepared balanced chicken rations from locally available feed materials supplemented by purchased nutrients. • Egg Collectors-Table eggs were collected from the Key Rearers by Egg Collectors to be supplied to a community sale center or to the wholesaler at the nearby market. The main objective of SLDP-I was to increase per capita income and animal protein consumption among rural poor through participation in the poultry production model. Apart from BRAC, two more large NGOs- Proshika and Swanirvar Bangladesh- were also involved in project implementation. Each NGO was responsible in its mandate area for : 1) establishment of Area Offices; one for each 3,000 to 6,000 women members, 2) selection of potential beneficiaries, 3) organization of village groups, 4) commence a saving programme, 5) training of beneficiaries, 6) creation of an enabling environment by establishing income-generating activities such as input suppliers, veterinary service activities, and marketing, 7) provision of loans and assist each of the beneficiaries in establishing an income-generating activity. 8) technical support for the operation of the different activities. During SLDP I, there were on average 3853 Key Rearers per Area Office and matching numbers of other enterprises.

Source of Information: Review materials, citation and similar papers, June 2003

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

A pure scavenging system of poultry production, with all its limitations and potentials, may be used as an entry point for helping the poor to diversify activities as a pathway out of poverty but poultry alone may not be adequate to get out of poverty in the long run for every poor household. Widespread use of the strategy in different countries and socio-economic and ecological situations will require policy and research support in several areas and these also need to be built into any project design and its impact assessment. Which of these research topics may generate location, project or country-specific outputs and which may generate public goods for wider adaptation and application is an important issue for guiding research investment decisions. Both public sector investment in a country and donor-supported development projects targeting poultry need to consider these in order to make decisions on investment in research and assess its impact.

Knowledge Management: Report/Proceedings