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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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- Breeding of parental stocks

- Feed milling mixing unit,

- pellet machine

- Small hatching unit

Implementation of the Pilot poultry farm:

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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.

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Vaccination in villages:

- Participatory vaccinations in CIGs’ communities,

- Take advantage of the support from livestock extension

service agents and trained community vaccinators.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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- 1600 bilingual (French-English) produced and

distributed during the practical on-field training

sessions.

- More than 500 rural dwellers, benefited from our

trainings.

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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).

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- 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.

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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, labour-

intensive 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Conclusion

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We expect the innovative aspect of the project to be

spread out to other communities and countries.

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?

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