The project aimed at enhancing the productivity of and the incomes derived from small-stock-keeping in the homestead compound by the landless and the poor and specifically by women. This was also expected to contribute to stemming the country-wide decline in the per capita availability of animal protein.
A second aim was to develop and test ways of improving the nutrition of cattle, goats and poultry, through, inter alia, increases in forage production at the farm level, by treatment of feed resources to enhance their nutritive value and by improved animal management systems.
- Poultry, duck and goat development
- Adaptive research
- Support of NGOs
Outcome
The
project had a positive impact on beneficiary poultry production. The number
of poultry enterprise units established was 400 000, exceeding the appraisal
target by 49%. The poultry population increased in the project area by
approximately 5 million, egg production by 360 million and meat production
by 2 400 tons. The operations of vaccinators decreased poultry mortality.
The country-wide replication of the poultry model
developed through the project is a reflection of the project's success.
The project activities enhanced the poultry production skills and the access to technology and capital of beneficiaries, thereby increasing their incomes. The private-sector market network was improved, eliminating the scope for exploitation by middlemen and benefiting rural families. Incremental employment and cash savings improved nutrition by increasing the consumption of meat and eggs and also helped beneficiaries to meet other needs, including education for their children, the acquisition of assets, better houses and sanitation. Women, who apparently constituted 98% of the project beneficiaries, enjoyed increased status, confidence, awareness and financial viability.
| The inability of governmental institutions to deliver effective support services to rural people was identified as a factor limiting the development of agricultural activities, especially in the poultry sector. However, prior to the project, the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an NGO, had piloted a successful village-based poultry model, which had enhanced outreach capacity of the DLS through NGO support based on participatory and self-help principles. This model was therefore adopted by the project to support the expansion of the poultry sector and to strengthen local institutions. |
||
| Planned |
Achieved |
|
| To provide funds to the
participating NGOs, covering both operating costs (including field
staff salaries, the rental, furnishing and maintenance of 80 area
offices, and travel) and poultry development activities. This would
enable the NGOs to identify the target group members, organize them
into functional groups, train them as women vaccinators, chick-rearers,
key rearers, model rearers, feed mixers and mini-hatchery owners,
and provide motivational follow-up for three years. |
The project provided the
NGOs with USD 2.92 million for the identification, organization
and training of the target group members. About 400 000 poultry
units had been established by the end of the project. The NGOs had
trained 8 013 poultry workers (100% of the target), 3 415 chick
rearers (107%), 377 495 key rearers (103%), 4 208 model rearers
(117%), 1 647 feed sellers (103%) and 423 mini-hatchery owners (88%). |
|
| Planned |
Achieved |
|
| To establish marketing groups, consisting of a maximum of three persons per union, and to provide them with credit for the purchase of equipment and as working capital. To support feed-mixer enterprises by providing them with credit for the purchase of equipment and for use as working capital.
|
The project failed to establish the proposed marketing groups and was therefore unsuccessful in establishing a complete cycle of producers and market operators. Feed mixers received credit through the project. However, their role within the model was compromised by the establishment of a feed mill by BRAC, the proliferation of private-sector outlets and the small margins between buying and selling prices. |
| Livestock raising was found to be integral to rural households in Bangladesh, representing an important source of income for the rural poor. However, productivity was low due to the lack of suitable shelter, feed and improved breeds, combined with poor nutrition and a high incidence of disease. |
||
| Planned |
Achieved |
|
| To provide funds for adaptive research, focusing on animal husbandry for poultry, ducks, goats, sheep and cattle, by individual scientists from the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, or the participating NGOs. Sheep, goat and duck-production models suitable for the target group were to be developed. To rehabilitate, operate and enhance incubator use
in six existing hatcheries for the production of day-old chicks. To improve the delivery of support to local farms' breeding ducks and small ruminants. Duck, goat and sheep rearers were to be given appropriate training and credit for the establishment and management of their enterprises. |
Five adaptive research studies were conducted by the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute with technical inputs from the project. Studies were related to poultry production increases under various conditions, the production of Salmonella and Gamboro vaccines, and the on-farm performance of Black Bengal goats fed on limited supplements or treated with anti-helminthic drugs. The production of Gamboro vaccine at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory was not realized due to the absence of the scientist and the lack of the antigen and necessary laboratory equipment. The capacities of six existing hatcheries were enhanced through rehabilitation and expansion. Five existing poultry farms were transformed into functional small-scale hatcheries. Duck-rearing was supported, but the DLS did not provide any assistance for the promotion of goat and sheep development. Small ruminant pests discouraged project beneficiaries from taking up the activities. Adaptive research included goat development initiatives, but the free-grazing system caused widespread mortality due to parasitic infestations. |
|
- Thanks to their focused and targeted approach, NGOs are especially successful at promoting small-scale poultry and livestock production, in particular where public institutions lack the capacity to provide these services.
- Access by the target group to collateral-free, easily available credit at a reasonable rate of interest is crucial to the development of viable small-scale enterprises. The interest rate regime should be harmonized with the disbursement mechanism to enable NGOs to work without financial pressure.
- The risks associated with natural disasters like floods and cyclones and factors such as bio-security, the incidence of new diseases and the cross-border illegal trade in poultry products should be considered at the project-design stage.
- In countries where land is scarce, population densities are high and animal production competes for land with food crop production, small-scale poultry enterprises represent an optimal solution for income generation among the poor.
- Beneficiary participation should be voluntary rather than engineered by the NGOs. Group members were not always offered the opportunity to take up the activities for which they thought they were most well suited.
- Project design should always consider the long-term sustainability of activities. By the end of the project, some enterprises within the model risked becoming redundant.
- There is a need to remove market imperfections such as illegal cross-border trade, which threatened the profitability and sustainability of the enterprises.
The poultry model consisted of six interlaced activities:
- Chick rearers raised day-old chicks in a caged environment for eight weeks, selling them off to key rearers and model rearers within the same village development committee.
- Key rearers raised the eight-week-old pullets to maturity under a scavenging system. The primary outputs were eggs and culled-for-age birds, which were marketed.
- Model rearers raised the eight-week pullets of improved breeds under a semi-confined system, with balanced feed rations for the production of hatching eggs, which were supplied to mini-hatcheries.
- Mini-hatcheries produced day-old chicks, under improved production systems, for sale to chick rearers.
- Feed mixers prepared balanced chicken rations from locally available feed materials supplemented by purchased nutrients.
- Poultry workers provided preventive health cover to rearing units.
