Document authored by Hajime Nabeta, a former Associate Professional Officer (Livestock Systems Group) with the Technical Advisory Division of IFAD, currently works with the Agricultural Study Division of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. Published as IFAD Technical Advisory Division Staff Working Paper No 21, August 1997.
FAD
is an international financial institution with a specialized mission
aimed at poverty alleviation. It finances projects in the agricultural
sector and supports activities of small and marginal farmers, particularly
women, in the rural areas of the developing countries. Since it was
founded in 1978, following the recommendations of the World Food Conference
in 1974, IFAD has financed more than 420 projects in about 100 countries
in the Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean,
and Near East and North Africa regions. Most of these projects are of
a multi-component type because the problems of poverty in rural areas
are multifaceted: low productivity, poor infrastructure, limited access
to agricultural extension and veterinary services, scant on/off-farm
income-generating opportunities and limited access to the formal credit
facilities available to small and marginal farmers. The activities supported
by IFAD projects aim at addressing the constraints facing smallholders,
with an overall goal of increasing the agricultural production and the
incomes of target beneficiaries and improving their living standards.
A desk study was conducted on 12 IFAD-supported investment projects (Annex I), the results of which comprise this paper, which was presented at the World Poultry Congress in India in September 1996. The review included projects with predominant poultry-related activities, or projects in which the poultry-related activities are minor or represent one of the options of the credit schemes. Some projects have already ended, while others are in the final stages of implementation, but have provided clear information on the performance of the activities undertaken.
The information collected includes the projects’ main objectives, specific poultry-development activities, the production systems and the poultry breeds promoted, the other livestock-related activities supported, and achievements and problems (Table 2). Some projects are briefly described in boxes (1-5).
The paper summarizes the progress of and the results obtained from the poultry-development activities and highlights the successes and failures, the lessons learned and technical and design issues. Furthermore, a cross-cutting analysis has been made of the technical features related to the production systems, breeds and basic marketing strategies. Areas of research which require attention and which would improve the performance and impact of future project interventions are highlighted. The recommendations in the concluding section place particular emphasis on the role of poultry development in poverty-alleviation projects.
