DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE BREEDING OF LOCAL CHICKEN
FOR IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY UNDER LOCAL ALTERNATIVE FEED
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND HEALTH CONTROL:
A SUCCESS STORY
Christian Keambou Tiambo1*, Raquel Juliano Soares2 and Frederico Lisita2
1
University of Buea- Cameroon, 2Embrapa Pantanal- Brasil
*PO Box 63 Buea – Cameroon, E-mail: christike2002@yahoo.fr
1
Plan
• Introduction
• Objectives
• Progress Achieved
• Results and products delivered
• Sustainability
• Growth Potential
• Innovation
• Conclusion
2
Introduction
For small farmers in developing countries, local chicken is
a unique opportunity for savings, investment and guard
against risk. It represents 75-85% of the total poultry
production in Cameroon (Keambou et al. 2007). They are
technically and financially easy to breed, this explain it
presence in more than 85% of poor rural households.
3
Local chicken:
 a high quality protein source for the family
 a living capital quickly mobilized in case of
financial crisis,
But low productivity as compared to its commercial
counterpart.
4
Upgrading local chicken = great positive effect on socio-
economical and dietary status of the most deprived,
Conditions: control reproduction, health, diet, management
systems etc.
Past initiatives were focused on genetic improvement by
introducing exotic genes, arguing that upgraded nutrition
would have no effect on native poultry low genetic
potential.
5
The potential of native breeds and their role in converting
locally available feed resources in sustainable production
now recognized.
Our intention: to provide farmers with actual technics,
hands-on tools, scientific and farm managerial skills to use
the potential of local chicken to mend rural livelihood.
6
7
Objectives
1. Detection and selection of local chicken with useful QTL
for production and disease resistance. Development of
SSR related African (or tropical) local chicken for
improved quality and quantity of egg layed and resistance
to Newcastle, Marek and Gumboro diseases.
8
2. Train rural farmers on the nutritional, health management
through good husbandry practices to ensure food security
in their area, and on farming and utilization of alternative
feed resources (moringa, maggot, earthworm, snails, cassava...).
3. Develop and promote various balance rations and feed
supplement
pellets from locally
alternative feed
resources.
9
4. Protect the existing flock against major prevalent
diseases through appropriate vaccination planning
(thermostable vaccines)
and veterinary cares (local pharmacopeia).
5. Design and implement small cost effective solar/non
electricity-dependent incubators.
10
Progress Achieved
The project team :
a dynamic youth in line with the development
of local chickens’ farmers in the Western and
Southwest regions of Cameroon.
11
Meeting with local communities:
- CIG leaders in their various communities,
- explain the main articulations of the project and the
role to be played by each other,
- be aware of their expectations and for us to agree of a
common basis for the success of the project.
12
Training of farmers on alternative crops production:
-
Moringa, corn and soya bean seed, cassava and sweet potato
cuttings distributed to CIG.
-
Assistance in planting process on their community plots.
-
Advantage
of
handworkers
(farmers
themselves)
and
opportunity of in situ capacity building of the farmers.
13
Implementation of the Pilot poultry farm:
- Breeding of parental stocks
- Feed milling mixing unit,
- pellet machine
- Small hatching unit
14
15
Training of communities’ vaccinators and poultry
health care agents:
- A minimum of two (02) vaccinators and chicken health
care agents trained for each community.
- Health care agents also trained on blood sampling for
disease testing.
16
Vaccination in villages:
- Participatory vaccinations in CIGs’ communities,
- Take advantage of the support from livestock extension
service agents and trained community vaccinators.
17
Production of leaflets on Local chicken improved
technics:
- 4 bilingual (English and French) leaflets on local chicken
improved technics produced and distributed to farmers.
- Soft copies available, open wright to propagate.
18
In situ training of farmers on improved rearing technics
using locally available materials:
- The essence: to mobilize locally available
materials for poultry production.
- Activities using exclusively a participatory
approach: no standard model, base on material
available and willingness and preferences of
farmers.
19
Distribution of chicks to farmers:
- a minimum of 200 chicks are produced each month,
- chicks started, vaccinated before being transferred to
farmers.
- Part of the production used for various tests.
20
21
Results and products delivered
- 61 CIG sensitized up to date,
- CIGs have been represented in general meetings by 2-3
members.
- 95% of the CIGs have received at least on training
session on alternative crop production.
- Not all the groups adopted the different crop proposed
by the project, but accepted the principle that locally
available crop could enter the chicken rations.
22
- 1/3 of the CIGs have already received chicks that they
are rearing under the monitoring of the project.
- 44 community vaccinators and poultry health care agents
were trained for the two regions.
- 296 direct rural households have participated to the
project,
- 2274 local chickens kept by farmers before the chicks’
distributions were vaccinated.
23
- 1600
bilingual
(French-English)
produced
and
distributed during the practical on-field training
sessions.
- More than 500 rural dwellers, benefited from our
trainings.
24
Agricultural led growth usually has strong multiplier effects
in local and regional economies (Asian case), stimulating
substantial economic development through increased local
employment and increased rural spending power (Delgado
et al., 1998).
Developing an enterprise that produces a tradable product
such as local poultry, which draws on under-utilized
resources such as labour (i.e. husbandry practices and local
manufacture of inputs such as cages), has the potential to
stimulate economic growth
25
Sustainability ??
The growth effect (which is expected firstly in project’s
farmers, as demonstrated by Ekue et al., 2008) will be
“multiplied” if further production and employment result
from the initial increase in household incomes; where the
multiplier is defined as the ratio of change in “local”
income to the change in autonomous expenditure that
brought it about (Lipsey, 1989).
26
- Rapid genetic gain for eggs and growth potential in local
chicken,
- Technical assistance of farmers during the project
- Their capacity building
- training of trainers and health care agents within each
community
Will insure high level of production and distribution of
chicks, enhance and strengthen the sustainability of the
project initiative indefinitely.
27
-
The feed and pellets producing unit will continue running.
-
We envisage each farmers’ group able of self-funding it
“pilot” farms and ensure sustainable production of fertile eggs
and chicks after the project period.
-
The components and result are highly replicable and the
multiplier effect of local networking will boost spreading of
technics and distribution high performing chickens all over
the country.
-
Adoption of heat tolerant vaccines will allow usage where
there is no electricity supply.
28
Growth Potential
The initial impetus to growth comes from relieving supply
constraints (Delgado et al., 1998). This usually involves
technological change that cuts unit costs of production for
tradables, but could be any factor that shifts the supply curve
for tradables to the right (Delgado, 1996). Backward growth
linkages are maximized when farmers and their labour spend
their income (earned from the sale of poultry) on goods and
services that are locally produced, non-agricultural, labourintensive and non-tradable in nature (Mellor, 1976).
29
The main constraints in local poultry production (diseases,
sub-optimal feeding and management practices) are targeted
by the project.
By combining feed supplementation, and vaccination, we
expect a good return on investment that will permanently still
be increased by improved management practices.
30
 The low cost of feed supplement made from locally
available
materials
will
encourage
farmers
to
supplement their chickens.
 Use of thermo-stable vaccines will salvage the 80%
killed by disease outbreak each year,
 Cost effective solar incubator will allow rapid spreading
of good genotypes even in remote areas.
31
Innovation
The originality of the project stands on:
-
Development of high yielding and disease resistant chickens,
-
Management training of smallholder farmers,
-
Balanced creep feeding and proper feed supplementation,
-
Pelleted feed supplement,
-
vaccination strategy adapted to local requirement based on
proper diagnosis,
-
Thermo-stable vaccine for remote areas,
-
Region specific training.
32
AGR-SAD:
 provide adequate basic poultry services, extension and
business development services.
 Excite business endeavours, develop links among
stakeholders,
 promote use of novelties in local chicken business so as
to break the low capacity, extensive poverty and lack of
drive to engage and invest in local chicken breeding.
33
This involves:
- mobilization of farmers for entrepreneurship,
- self-organization,
- joint selling facility via networks or groups.
This aims at supporting capacity building for a system of
commercial rural native fowl initiatives.
34
AGR-SAD will surely and indirectly develop local private
sector supply systems for chicken feeds and
veterinary services.
 students to support poultry farmers as part of their
internship ♯ quality and timely extension and advisory
services.
 The cost effective incubators to cover the need of
hatchery industry for indigenous chicks.
35
Conclusion
The programme is progressively displaying its potential
development impact that will be evaluated:
- full time employment opportunities for rural dwellers,
- increased cash income per family,
- additional animal protein in each family breeding local
chicken,
- increase women’s and youth control of resources,
- Possibility of re-investment of funds generated into other
agricultural, trade or social sectors.
36
We expect the innovative aspect of the project to be
spread out to other communities and countries.
37
Lookouts
- funds raising to reinforce the production capacity of the
central experimental and demonstration farm and extend
the initiative to other regions and countries of the sub
region
- Create the federation of family poultry producer in the
nearest future
- Explore possibilities and create local genetic resources
conservation centers
38
Sustainable
choice?
39