1. a Family Poultry development towards the achievement
of the UN Millennium Development Goals
Antonio Rota 7th International Poultry Show and Seminar
IFAD Senior Technical Adviser Dhaka, 25-27 March, 2011
Livestock and Farming Systems
Photo Prof. Dr. Gouranga Ch. Chanda

2. a International Fund for Agriculture Development - IFAD
Enabling therural poor
to overcome poverty

3. a IFAD at work
From 1979 to 2009:
• 860 projects in 117 countries
• Supported 371 million rural poor
• Total IFAD disbursement: USD 11,9 billion
• USD 808.4 million in 33 new projects in 2010

4. a Smallholder farming
500 million smallholder farms
worldwide supporting around
2 billion people. They:
– Farm 80% of the farmland in
Asia and Africa
– Produce 80% of the food
consumed in the developing
world
– Feed 1/3 of the global
population
– Women are increasingly the
farmers of the developing
world, producing between 45%
and 80% of household food

5. a Food Security and Production
• The world’s population is
projected to grow from 6.8
billion to 9.1 billion by 2050
• Agriculture production in the
developing countries would
need to almost double

6. a Factors determining rural poverty
Lack of
political
representation
for rural poor
Lack of
Risk and
assets, land
vulnerability
and water
Lack of access
to financial Conflicts and
services & Crises
technology
Lack of skills Inappropriate
and weak government
organizations Poor policies
integration
with local,
regional &
international
markets

7. a Fighting poverty
• Fighting poverty has become
a priority
• 189 World Leaders
committed themselves to
address poverty in 2000
• Millennium Development
Goals

8. a Role of livestock
Worldwide there is evidence
of a direct linkage between
improvement of livestock
production and poverty
reduction

9. a Livestock Sector
• The livestock sector is essential to the
livelihoods of about 1 billion of the
world’s poorest people
• It accounts for 30% of the agricultural
GDP in developing countries
• It grows faster than most other
agricultural sub-sectors
(WB, 2009)

10. a Consumption of livestock products
in developing countries

11. a Meat production in developing countries

12. a Small Livestock (SL)
Poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, goats,
pigs… are the animals of the poorest. Why?:
– Even landless can keep them (sometime
they are their only asset)
– Reproduce fast
– Efficiently transform roughages, shrubs,
kitchen waste… into highly valuable food
– Produce manure which is often the only
input for crop production
– No need for big starting capitals
– Easily sold or bartered
– Highly mobile in case of crisis/disaster
– Socio-cultural value

13. a Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• Eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and
empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for
development

14. IFAD Projects with rural poultry
a development component
Project with a Rural Poultry Project with a Rural Poultry Development
Development component – on component – completed
going

15. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty
a and hunger
TARGET
• Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people whose income
is less than 1 USD a day
• Achieve full and productive
employment and decent work for
all, including women and young
people
• Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people who suffer
from hunger

16. a Living with $ 1.25 a day
Source: World Bank 2009

17. a Child malnutrition
Source: World Bank 2009

18. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty
a and hunger
Small Livestock:
• Contribute to human nutrition
providing food with high quality
macro and micronutrients
• Generate small income and provide
the potential to ‘bank’ savings, which
enhances the capacity to cope with
shocks and reduces economic
vulnerability
• In times of crises (i.e. drought,
flooding, conflicts), play an important
role as ‘mobile’ food asset

19. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
a hunger (nutrition)
• Poverty leads to a human diet that is
lacking in diversity:
– Low in vitamin A, vitamin B-12,
riboflavin, calcium, iron and zinc
– Causes anemia, poor growth, rickets,
impaired cognitive performance,
blindness, neuromuscular deficits, and in
the worst cases death.
– Foods of animal origin are particularly
rich sources of all six of these nutrients,
and relatively small amounts of these
foods can improve the quality of the total
diet substantially (Murphy and Allen,
2003).
Data from Dr. Frands Dolberg
• 40-50% of eggs and poultry produced is
self-consumed.

20. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
a hunger (nutrition)
Poultry used for poverty alleviation helps increase equity of
consumption of other (animal) products: Bangladesh.
Food item Increase in consumption by factor:
Eggs 2.5
Chicken meat 2.4
Fish 1.2
Meat (beef and goat) 2.0
Milk 3.0
Grain 1.2
Data from Dr. Frands Dolberg

21. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
a hunger (impact)
Impact of the Village Poultry Programme
Afghanistan:
• Profitability 91.0 %
• Interest to keep Poultry 95.7%
• Family egg consumption 88.9%
• Chicken meat consumption 67.7%
• Egg selling 87.5%
Data from FAO, 2006

22. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
a hunger (impact)
Afghanistan Traditional Poultry Improved Poultry
Flock size 2.5 hens (max. 5.7 hens) 15.4 hens
Avg. eggs per year 125 eggs (max. 309 eggs) 2410 eggs (max. 2830 eggs)
Avg. income per month 12-13 USD (max. 30 USD) 144 USD (max. 250 USD)
from eggs
Avg. income per month 10-12 USD n.a.
from chicken
Avg. income per month n.a. 23-40 USD per month
for Women Poultry
Group Leader
providing services (i.e.
vaccination)

23. MDG 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
a hunger (impact)
Comparison of profitability of different rural poultry enterprises
Bangladesh:
BCR: Benefit Cost Ratio
Components Gross Gross Cash Net Gross BCR BCR
Return cost cost Return margin (Full (Cash
cost) Cost)
Chick Rearer 100260.45 65923.58 62313.36 34336.87 37947.09 1.51 1.60
Key Rearer 22097.25 5770.42 4568.21 16326.83 17529.04 3.86 5.99
Model Breeder 81315.00 73678.23 65130.73 7636.77 16184.43 1.11 1.24
Mini Hatchery 33956.41 15957.37 13606.74 17999.04 20349.67 2.08 2.43
Poultry Worker 4329.99 1396.08 527.88 2933.94 3802.14 3.09 8.41
Data from Dr. Meherunnesa Chowdhury Sumy (Taka per year)
Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University

24. MDG 2. Achieve universal primary
a education
• Inability of families to meet the
costs of schooling is often the
main reason why children cannot
attend school or drop out at an
early stage
• Selling SL and their products
provides one of the few
possibilities for poor households
to generate cash income to meet
yearly school fees
• Children with access to quality
food (proteins and vitamins) have
better health and take full
advantage of the education they
receive

25. MDG 3. Promote gender equality and
a empower women
• Women are the main caretakers of SL –
especially where animals are kept near the
house.
• They are often responsible for processing
livestock products
• The ownership of SL gives them control
over this asset and contributes to their
empowerment
• Keeping SL enhances their status/self-
esteem at household and community level
• Incremental increases in household
income controlled by women have a
demonstrated multiplier effect in
enhancing family well-being
• The increase of daily burdens by keeping
poultry is negligible.

26. a MDG 4. Reduce child mortality
UN MDG Report 2010

27. a MDG 4. Reduce child mortality
• The consumption of even
small quantities of milk, milk
products, meat and eggs is
essential for reducing child
mortality and improving
healthy child development
• Poor households can cover
health expenses and purchase
medicines with incomes
generated from their poultry
• However, the close contact
between badly managed
chicken and children can
result zoonotic diseases

28. a MDG 4. Reduce child mortality
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO
REDUCED CHILD MALNUTRITION
(Sixty three countries : 1970-96)
Women's Education
12%
Food Availability
19% 43%
Access to Safe Drinking
Water
Women's Status
26%
Data from IFPRI L.C.Smith, L.Haddad (1999) through Dr. Frands Dolberg

29. a MDG 5. Improve maternal health
• Consumption of milk, eggs
and occasionally meat
contribute significantly to
the nutritional status of
women
• Income generation from
livestock owned by women
can also help to improve
maternal health

30. a MDG 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
other diseases

31. a MDG 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
other diseases

32. a MDG 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
other diseases
• In HIV/AIDS affected
household, young people
(orphans) can better handle
SL rather than large animals
• Using compatible
infrastructures for human
and animal health (i.e. cold
chain for vaccines) may
result in cost savings and
better effectiveness

33. MDG 7. Ensure environmental
a sustainability
• Rural poultry is
environmentally sound
• Rural poultry reduces
insect pest (ticks!)
• Manure from poultry
contributes to increase
vegetable production

34. MDG 8. Develop a global partnership
a for development
Targets
• Develop further an open,
rule-based, predictable,
non-discriminatory trading
and financial system.
• Address the special needs of
the least developed
countries

35. a Projected Net Trade In Meat (thousand MTs)
2015: -1,900
2030: -1,090
European Transition
North America Union (15) Countries
2015: -2,950
2030: -4,000
2015: -2,360 Near East / South Asia East
2030: -3,520 North Africa Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
2015: 1,770 2015: -280
2015: -80
2030: 2,770 2030: -740
2030: -410
Latin America
Oceania
Net Export
Net Import
Source: FAO 2002

36. MDG 8. Develop a global partnership
a for development
Specific actions and policies
are required to reduce
transaction costs and
barriers to market access
which presently hamper
poor (producers and
consumers) to benefit from
global livestock trade and
growing demand for
livestock products

37. a Conclusions
QUESTION: By keeping SMALL LIVESTOCK is it possible
for poor resource persons to:
Double the daily income of USD 1? YES
Generate employment? YES
Improve (child) nutrition? YES
Improve (child) health? YES
Contribute empowering women? YES
Ensure environmental sustainability? YES
Unfortunately without additional efforts, several of the
MDGs are unlikely to be achieved in many countries

38. a Conclusions
International and national institutions, policy and decision makers are still reluctant to support
the development of the SL sector
WHAT DO WE NEED TO MAKE A REAL CHANGE?
– Raise the awareness of decision-makers in national governments and donor agencies
about the effectiveness of rural poultry as a tool for poverty reduction.
– Effective and consistent national pro-poor policies which are crucial to capitalise on the
opportunities offered by the increasing demand for livestock products and poverty-
focused agendas of several countries;
– Livestock farmers institutions which can help to voice their needs and facilitate the
provision of services and inputs to the farming communities;
– Participatory adaptive research which is needed to identify appropriate
technologies/models which are pro-poor, sustainable, economically viable and
environmentally sound;
– Adapted Extension and Training for capacity building, especially for women;
– Market led approach by producers supported by effective/accessible/qualitative services
(breeding, veterinary services, credit, processing, marketing, extension/training, etc.) and
infrastructures;
– Personal commitment from “like minded” people to advocate for pro-poor development
to achieve the MDGs through the promotion of the SL sector.

39. a Conclusions
What IFAD is doing to support rural poultry?
– Promoting rural poultry as an effective tool for poverty
reduction, for food security and gender empowerment.
– Strengthening the International Network for Family Poultry
Development – INFPD
– Funding Investment Projects that improve capacity building
at all level; access to credit and market; bio-safety as a mean
for reducing the impact of diseases and public health risks.
– Supporting research and up-scaling of successful models
and technologies (i.e. Mini-hatcheries technology).

40. a Proposed Actions
IFAD is prepared to work together with national/international institutions
committed to pro-poor livestock to:
Develop a business-like approach to sensitise national policy, decision
makers and donors about the effectiveness of rural poultry development
to reduce poverty. This entails:
– Identifying rural poultry development projects, models and
approaches (i.e. Bangladesh model developed by the Bangladesh
Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the Government of
Bangladesh) that “work” and characterise their key success factors for
up-scaling.
– Gathering socio-economic data to demonstrate the return in terms of
poverty reduction for each 1 USD invested in poultry production.
– Identifying examples of effective national policies enhancing food
security and supporting smallholder poultry farmers business.
– Developing regional/national project proposals for substantial
investments in the rural poultry sector in partnership with the private
sector.

41. a
Thank you
Antonio Rota (a.rota@ifad.org)
IFAD, Senior Technical Adviser
Livestock and Farming Systems
Policy and Technical Advisory Division
Via Paolo di Dono 44
00142 Rome, Italy
Tel. +39 06 5459 2680
Fax + 39 06 5459 3680
Please join the Community of Practice for Pro-Poor
Livestock Development
www.cop-ppld.net