ASSESSING THE CONTRIBTION OF POULTRY PRODUCTION IN THE HOUSE HOLD A CASE STUDY OF LUSOZI VILLAGE, KYAMULIBWA PARISH, KYAMULIBWA

SUB- COUNTY, KALUNGU DISTRICT BY AJULO HARRIET 10 / U/BDS/666/ K A FIELD WORK REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND DEVELOPM ENT STUDIES SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE AWARD OF REQUIREMENT OF BACHELORS DEGREE IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES OF MUTEESA 1 ROYAL UNIVERSITY

JUNE 21st 2010

TO

JULY 20TH

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION Poultry production is widely acknowledged as the livestock of the poor, and poul try production is part of most smallholder farming systems done in Uganda. Guye (2000) writes that 85 percent of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa kee p chickens or other types of poultry. Poultry are equally important to smallhold ers in Lusozi village. This study sets out to review the contribution of poultry to small hold livelihoods economically, as well as socially and culturally and to small household food security. The study look both at its direct contribution to family reproduction, in the form of meat and eggs, and at its indirect contr ibution, i.e. when poultry are sold or traded and when birds play a role in main taining social networks and ritual life. Poultry production is practiced by most rural households throughout the develop ing world; despite the fact that its contribution to livelihoods appears to be o f little nominal value when observed by researchers and other outsiders, therefo re the study examines how poultry contributes to households income and livelihoo ds in lusozi village Kyamulibwa sub-county. 1.1 BACKGROUND Lusozi village is located in kyamulibwa sub-county, Kyamulibwa town council, Kal ungu County in kalungu district. It is located in central part of Uganda after M asaka town. The village has a population of 600 households of which 700 are male , 1000 female and about 700 children. In addition the majority are Baganda, foll owed by banyarwanda and Bakiga among others. The village got its name from the f act that it has got a lot of hills which at times hinder crop farming. (Guye 1998). Village chickens are important in low-income food deficit countries . They represent an appropriate system for supplying the fast growing human popu lation with high quality protein and provide additional income to resource-poor farmers, especially women. Although they require low levels of inputs, village c hickens contribute significantly to food security, poverty alleviation and ecolo gically sound management of natural resources (Guye 2003). In developing countries village poultry keeping is regarded as an important live lihood opportunity for the poor households: economically as starter capital, as a means to recover from disasters, as an accessible protein source and for incom e and exchange purposes, and socio-culturally for mystical functions, hospitalit

y and exchange of gifts to strengthen social relationships (Aklilu 2007). 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To establish the impacts of poultry production to the house hold. To investigate the problems faced by households in poultry production. To find out solutions to the problems experienced by household in poultry 1.3 METHODOLOGY To ensure collection of correct and unbiased data from the respondents, the rese archer used the following methods to collect data; oral interview, Questionnaire , Observation, Document review through Random sampling. 1.3.1 ORAL INTERVIEW This was mouth to mouth interviewing of household heads were the researcher con sulted and asked relevant questions concerning the research topic though this wa s a bite hard for the researcher because of the language barrier. 1.3.2 QUESTIONNAIRE Through this method, the researcher used questionnaires containing closed and op en ended questions that were relevant to the topic of study .with the help of this method the researcher was able to find out the challenges faced by house ho lds in Lusozi village. 1.3.3 OBSERVATION In the method it was divided in to two i) Non participant observation and participant. In non participant observat ion. The researcher observes a group or situation without taking part in any way . This has the advantage that the researcher can study people in their national setting without their behavior being influenced or changed by research. ii) In participant observation, its a very commonly used observation techniqu e, in this method the researcher joins in the group he/she is studying. 1.3. DOCUMENT REVIEW During the research, the researcher read several literature related to the topic of the study to widen his knowledge of the research area, These materi als were availed by the community development officer of Kyamulibwa sub county and they included; production surveys and population registers. 1. SAMPLING PROCEDURE The researcher employed random sampling, here the researcher sampled out some f amilies and left out others due to time factor and the fact that most of the fam ilies were having the same data collection therefore random sampling could favor me in data collection. 1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW 1.5.1 Importance and uses of poultry Poultry are an important source of ready income and protein in rural areas. Rura l poultry also integrate very well and in a sustainable way into other farming a ctivities (Tadelle 1996). Furthermore, rural poultry play important cultural and social roles in rural communities. The main objectives of rural poultry are pro ducing eggs for hatching, sale and home consumption, and birds for sale, healing ceremonies, traditional offerings, replacement, and home consumption and for gi fts to visitors and relatives (Mutisi and Kusina 1996; Tadelle 1996; Muchenje an d Sibanda 1997). Money from the sale of the birds is used to buy immediate household requirement s such as food, dairy feeds and to pay school fees, among other purposes. By eat ing leftovers from the kitchen and insects such as cockroaches, birds perform a valuable sanitary function in villages. Poultry manure can be used as field manu re or as feed supplement for ruminants. Poultry can be kept for socio-cultural or financial purposes. Under such circums tances introducing management changes such as regular watering and feeding, clea ning the fowl-runs and taking care of the young chicks can be complex. When desi gning programs to expand poultry production it is important to consider issues r elated to gender and labor-sharing within households. Some studies have shown th at poultry keeping in most developing countries is the responsibility of women ( Tadelle 1996; Muchenje and Sibanda 1997). Understanding the roles of each househ

old member is important in sustainable poultry production. And there are other reasons why raising chickens in Africa makes good sense. For one, as the population increases, available land decreases, yet farmers don t n eed a lot of land to raise chickens. Grazing cattle in a changing climate is als o unpredictable, but chickens can cope with drought and flood far better than co ws. Chickens also turn grains into high value protein, fast. And for women farme rs, chickens are socially acceptable to own and sell, without asking a man s per mission. 1.5.2 CHALLENGES FACING POULTRY PRODUCTION Socio-cultural constraint to poultry development is the value placed upon poultr y for use at ceremonies and festivals or even as a source of income in times of need but neither as a source of daily food nor as a regular source of income. So me regard chickens as their pets or part of the family, thus it is only the arri val of an important unexpected visitor that could allow their use as food, altho ugh they can be sold without regret and the money utilized. Another major constraint to poultry production is the high value placed upon cro p production rather than livestock production. This affects the willingness to p ut much time, expense and effort into livestock production. Theft is also a grea t constraint. Villagers who have lost all their poultry to theft may be reluctan t to face the expense of starting again. Another constraint is the social norm that determines ownership of livestock. Ty pically, where crop farming is the mens main activity, keeping livestock is perce ived as a peripheral activity relegated to women and children. However, when the number of livestock increases, men usually take over the activity. The most common flock size of between 5 to 20 birds seems to be the limit that c an be kept by a family without special inputs in terms of feeding, housing and l abour. These small flocks scavenge sufficient feed in the surroundings of the ho mestead to survive and to reproduce. Any significant increase in flock size ofte n leads to malnutrition if no feed supplement is provided. In addition, larger f lock sizes must forage at greater distances, which may involve damage to neighbo rs vegetable gardens. Any move to fence in or enclose the poultry then involves the need to provide a balanced ration. Larger flock sizes can easily arise once mortality is reduced t hrough vaccination and improved hygiene. Flock size can rapidly increase to the point where the feed requirement exceeds the available Scavengable Feed Resource Base (SFRB) in the area around the dwelling, at this stage, either supplementar y feeding or a semi-intensive system of management is required. If balanced feed , day-old hybrid chick and vaccine input supplies (and markets) are available an d well organized, and then intensive poultry management systems may be a viable option. There have been many attempts to take short cuts to development and to s tart immediately with the semi-intensive system. Table 2 Technical challenges and training requirements for family poultry develo pment Constraint Training Measures required Disease risk Advice on sanitation and health; training vaccinators. Predators Advice on predator control. Housing Advice on improved poultry housing. Feed and water Advice on locally available feed ingredients and their combinati ons; making of feeders and drinkers; regular provision of feed and water. Genetic potential Introduction of improved indigenous (and if necessary, e xotic) breeds and advice on special management. Marketing Advice on egg handling and storage, and training of farmers in g roup management and marketing. Source: Bessei, 1987 Diseases like Newcastle disease constitute the most serious epizootic poultry di sease in the world, particularly in developing countries. No progress has been m ade in controlling ND in free-ranging village flocks, which represent more than 80 percent of the total poultry population. Several recent surveys in Africa sho wed high rates of sero-positivity in the absence of vaccination. In developing c

ountries, such disease occurs every year and kills an average of 70 to 80 percen t of the unvaccinated village hens (Branckaert et al., 2000). It is very difficu lt to organize vaccination campaigns covering free-range birds. The main constra ints are: the difficulty of grouping together an adequately large number of birds in order to obtain an efficient vaccination rate; the possibility of disease cross-contamination arising from birds of various age s being raised together; and The difficulty of maintaining an efficient cold chain for proper vaccine quality preservation. Diseases make poultry production a risky venture. Producers using the free-rang e extensive system acknowledge this risk, and reduce its impact on the household economy by having small flocks. ND is a major disease problem for all producer s wherever the disease exists. Vaccination of the flock against ND is very impor tant and provides a basis for further development. 1.5.3 SOLUTIONS TO CHALLENGES The constraints themselves show the need for awareness raising in the farmers to recognize the needs of their poultry for regular watering and feeding, cleaning of the poultry night house and care of the young chicks. The Consultation recom mended that the first critical step for rural poultry development is the encoura gement and support of farmers to change their traditional system. Taking into co nsideration the chronic shortages of personnel and transport affecting extension services in the developing countries, the Consultation emphasized the importanc e of selecting pilot farms to serve as models as they can have a multiplier effe ct on the neighboring farms and villages. It should not be assumed that socio-cultural factors can be changed. However, by incorporating socio-cultural factors into development strategies, the programme s and technologies may encounter less resistance. Development programmes, which combine local knowledge with western science, yield strategies which are cultura lly more acceptable. Socio-cultural factors are thus not seen as a problem, but rather as a factor to be considered or used in finding a solution (Olawoye and d i Domenico, 1990). Vaccination; Protection against Newcastle Disease requires three vaccinations du ring the six-month growing phase of pullets and cockerels. Depending on local co nditions, between two and three vaccinations per year are needed for adult birds . Because of the limited resources of government veterinary services, it is nece ssary to build networks of private veterinarians, veterinary assistants and vacc inators to provide preventive veterinary care in remote rural areas, and to ensu re a reliable supply of vaccines (with a cold chain for the storage and distribu tion of conventional vaccines). In Bangladesh, the Department of Livestock Services established such a cold chai n from the vaccine production laboratory to the village level in 1984. Within th ree years, 4 500 poultry farmers (especially women) were trained as village poul try vaccinators. The full cost of vaccination was charged to poultry producers i n order to sustain the full cost of vaccine production and distribution. When it is possible to extend this fee to partly cover an extension service, it can res ult in the creation of a partly privatized poultry extension service. Such a sys tem, financed by vaccination fees and the sale of exotic birds to farmers, was e stablished in Sao Tome and Principe. In the past, too much emphasis was given to the development of an autonomous pou ltry extension system, while the links between poultry production and other agri cultural services were neglected. Even if the specialized poultry extension syst em is well organized and working effectively, its impact on the very large numbe r of smallholder keepers (particularly in rural areas) will be very low. This is because government budgets can provide for only a few poultry extension special ists. It is therefore necessary to establish links between poultry specialists a nd established institutions such as general agricultural extension services, vet erinary services, agricultural colleges and NGO services. It is important to rev ise the strategies and activities of existing poultry farms and stations, so tha t a considerable part of their capacity is devoted to indirect extension through

general extension services.

CHAPTER TWO FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 2.0 INTRODUCTION. Under this section the wide research is looked at its findings and assessments a re included .This section helps us to explain in broad the interactions between the interviewer and the interviewee. During the research targeted twenty five households (25) and aimed at examining poultry production in rural development, But during the research more emphasis was put on the nature of households, major activities, factors favoring and prob lems uncounted during the poultry production in the household. 2.1 NATURE OF THE HOUSE HOLDS. Under this, the researcher used observation methods to examine the nat ure of house holds In lusozi village, among 25 sampled house hold heads that were interviewed by the researcher. The structure of houses were categorized into three types namely permanent, semi-permanent, and tempo rary houses as shown in the table below TABLE.1. SHOWS THE NATURE OF THE HOUSE HOLDS. TYPES OF HOUSEHOLDS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE % Permanent 08 32 Semi-permanent 12 48 Temporary 05 20 TOTAL (f) 25 100 From the data shown in the table above, among 25 house holds intervi ewed by the researcher, 08 were permanently built with cement, baked b ricks, sand, poles, and iron sheets in percentages computing to 32 % / 10(33%), 12 of them were semi-permanently built out of baked b ricks, mud, poles, and iron sheetscomputing to 48%.or 12(48%) and fi nally 05 were temporary houses built with grass, reeds, banana fibers and mud this also compute to 20%or 05(20%). The researcher found out that permanent and semi-permanent houses had high poultry production compared to temporary houses. semi-permanent being on top was as a result of much interest and courage towards poultry prod uction by the house hold heads and also their creative nature as f ar as poultry production is concerned and lastly the researcher a lso found out that temporary houses face low poultry production du e to the fact that most of them had limited capital, less interest in poultry and limited knowledge on proper ways of poultry farming. Table 2 HEAD OF HOUSEHOLDS FAMILY HEADS PERCENTAGES (%) REASONS Male headed 67 Polygamous men, more educated, cash activities Female headed 33 Divorce, death of husbands In conclusion, most female headed by grandmothers who are weak and poor, they li ve with many young children who cant do much in poultry production in the family. This has made many live in poverty and hunger. The researcher also put much emphasis on the number of people living in each hou sehold. It was found out that 60% of the household have members ranging between 6-10, 34% of the household have people ranging between 1-5 and 6% of the househo

ld have members above 10. Critical observation was made on the members in the ho usehold. Most members were young and elderly who are weak and poor. They do less in investment. This shows that there are high dependency age rates among househ old. Graph .1. Shows numbers of 801-5 members 605-10 members 40above 10 201-5 5-10 above 10 No of members in the house holds Related to the above table when it came to the number of members in the house holds the researcher found out that among the intervi ewed house holds 10% of the house holds had family members ranging from 1-5 members ,60% had members ranging from 5-10members, fin ally 30% also had members above 10 . Table.3. shows the levels of educational back ground among the house holds Levels of education Frequency Percentages Illiteracy 05 20 primary level 10 39 secondary level 08 36 Higher institution 03 05 Total 25 100 From the table above the researcher also analyzed the education back ground of the members in the house holds ,the researcher fo und out that 05(17%) of the members were illiterate 06(20%) were in primary level 08(27%) were in secondary level i.e. O/A and finally 11(36%) were in higher institution, however most of the parents ar e illiterate and the children are still schooling. 2.2 Characteristics of households involved in village chicken production Village chicken production is widely practiced in lusozi village as a source of income for immediate household expenses. Village chicken keepers in the study a rea use chickens and chicken by products as a source of income/cash or for home expenditure (44%), home consumption (24%), ceremony and/or sacrifice (22%) and a s deposit (10%). On the other hand, eggs from village chickens in the study area are used for hatching for replacement stock, sale for cash income and home cons umption. This is in agreement with the Mcainsh et al (2004) in Zimbabwe who reported that children and women were responsible for chicken rearing. Rural women and childr en are traditionally believed to play an important role (John 1995) as they are generally in charge of most chicken husbandry practices, since small-scale anima l production does not require heavy manual labor (Riise et al 2004). According t o Guye (1998), approximately 80 % of the chicken flocks in a number of African co untries were owned and largely controlled by women. 2.3 THE IMPACT OF POULTRY TO HOUSEHOLDS Poultry are an important source of ready income and protein in lusozi village. R ural poultry also integrate very well and in a sustainable way into other farmin g activities (Tadelle 1996). Furthermore, rural poultry play important cultural and social roles in rural communities. The main objectives of rural poultry in l usozi village are producing eggs for hatching, sale and home consumption, and bi rds for sale, healing ceremonies, traditional offerings, replacement, and home c 0 members in the house holds

onsumption and for gifts to visitors and relatives (Mutisi and Kusina 1996; Tade lle 1996; Muchenje and Sibanda 1997). Money from the sale of the birds is used to buy immediate household requirements such as food, dairy feeds and to pay school fees, among other purposes. By eati ng leftovers from the kitchen and insects such as cockroaches, birds perform a v aluable sanitary function in villages. Poultry manure can be used as field manur e or as feed supplement for ruminants. Even though the ownership of few poultry birds does not contribute substantially to rural livelihoods, it provides a mechanism to improve nutrition (particularl y important in children) and alleviate credit constraints faced by the majority of the rural poor. On the one hand, when rural food markets are imperfect, and t he availability and prices of grains and animal proteins at marketplaces are unp redictable, poultry farming serves as an inexpensive device for households to ge nerate highly nutritious food items at minimal cost, because of the low input re quirements and the low opportunity cost of family labour allocated to poultry ca re. On the other hand, when financial markets are imperfect, which is often the case in lusozi village, the sale of birds helps cover recurrent minor expenditur es, such as school fees, and to deal with unexpected shocks, such as medical fee s. Poultry sector provides an employment opportunity to the labor force in this vil lage which has helped to increase peoples earnings and their standard of living h as increased hence development. According to the chairman L.C 1 he said many peo ple have benefited from this project because they get jobs to work as cleaners, birds feeders, watering of birds and security, this has helped the less educated to have something that can boost their earning and such workers have been able to set up their own businesses from the savings they get. One of the beneficiari es had this to say; I was hired in 2005 by one of the women who had over 1000 birds, I worked for th is lady for a period of 3 years and I was able to save over 1.5 millions which m oney I invested in buying and selling coffee, as of now I own a retail shop in t his village, happily married and my children have managed to go to school. It has improved the education sector in the way that children able to go to scho ol because parents are able to pay school fees for their children buy scholastic materials like uniforms, pens, books and pencils. The chairman of his area stro ngly believes that this will create an educated environment in this village and will be more knowledgeable people hence improving the standards of living and de velopment. Based on a study of 25 households it was found that the income from poultry was particularly important to the poorest of families, who devote more time and effo rt to their poultry than the better-off families do. It was found out that mean annual sale per household was 5.5 birds, while mean annual consumption was 3.1 b irds. Mean overall household consumption of eggs was 23.3 percent of all the egg s produced, while 27 percent was sold and the rest used for reproduction of the flock. The figure is given in terms of percentage of all off-take, but based on mean production figures a total annual off-take of eggs for consumption can be c alculated at 56 eggs per household, it was found out that cash income from poult ry varied among wealth groups, with poor households earning more cash from poult ry than better off groups. Around 80 percent of women earned more than 2 million s per year from poultry keeping. Although it was not possible to calculate a mean income figure by wealth rank, t he findings clearly show that the poor are more engaged in marketing poultry tha n the better off. The study does not present total household income levels for the households incl uded in the survey, so the rate of poultry income relative to total household in come is not available, but those involved have benefited a lot from this project 2.3 CHALLENGES FACING POULTRY FARMERS IN GALUNNYO VILLAGE Diseases have made poultry production a risky venture. Producers using the free -range extensive system acknowledge this risk, and reduce its impact on the hous

ehold economy by having small flocks. Newcastle disease (ND) is a major disease problem for all producers wherever the disease exists. Vaccination of the flock against ND is very important and provides a basis for further development. This was reported by every respondent with a lot of frustrations since it has cossete d them a lot of money. It is worth repeating that the reluctance of farmers to invest in poultry produc tion is not due to a lack of resources but to the risk of disease outbreaks and mortality. Killer diseases like ND regularly decimate village flocks. In traditi onal farming systems, farmers often live close to the survival limit, so they na turally avoid risks. Minimizing risk ranks higher than increasing output. A key component of development is the control of the most important diseases. Regular vaccination is a prerequisite for any improvement in production. Feeding is also another challenge that hinders poultry production, the supply of adequate feed supplement is critical. The nutrient intake of scavenging birds v aries from place to place according to the seasons, the crops grown and the natu ral vegetation available. In field experiments, feed supplements, including hous ehold waste (cooked potatoes, yams or cassava tubers), and oilseed cakes, have a positive effect on egg production and body weight of scavenging birds. But for those rearing exotic birds which feed from one place feeds costs have so much in creased than it was in the past, this limited the supply of feeds thus less prod uction and moving a way of farmers from this business. Marketing; Poultry products in Galunnyo village are still expensive. The marketi ng system is generally informal and poorly developed. Unlike eggs and meat from commercial hybrid birds (derived from imported stock), local consumers generally prefer those from indigenous stocks. The existence of a local market offering g ood sales opportunities and adequate transport facilities are obvious prerequisi tes for development. As most consumers with greater purchasing power live in and around cities, intensification of poultry production should be initiated in per i-urban areas or, at least, in areas having a good road network 2.5 SOLUTIONS TO CHALLENGES There is a need to introduce the low input-output levels which is economically e fficient, since with the low output from the individual birds, the inputs are lo w or virtually non-existent. Small management changes, such as regular watering, night enclosures, discouraging hens from getting broody, vaccination against co mmon diseases, small energy and protein supplements and caging chicks can bring about significant improvements in the productivity of indigenous birds There is a need to introduce ways in which farmers can improve their image and o ffer a competitive and consistently quality product on a regular basis to their customers need to be explored. Furthermore, aspects such as transport, market ac cessibility, marketing channels and organization need to be addressed if farmers are to benefit from research. In rural areas poultry products are usually sold locally. Densely populated areas such as growth points, service centers, boardin g schools and other government institutions are important markets for poultry pr oducts. Farmers should be allowed to develop the market structures most suitable for the m. Often womens groups prove to be effective in marketing eggs along with other p roducts at local markets. Such groups should be encouraged and supported if they exist, but their establishment solely may be unnecessary and unviable. Technical skills need to be considered at both farmer and extension officer leve ls. Training is essential in the areas of disease control, housing, equipment, f eeding, genetic improvement and marketing. A basic knowledge of specific feature s of poultry anatomy and physiology is also important, to provide a basis for un derstanding the above topics. Housing and management could be improved through a ppropriate farmer training, preferably conducted on-farm. Local craftsmen could be trained to manufacture small equipment, such as feeders and drinkers.

CHAPTER THREE LINKAGES AND EFFECT ON THE SECTOR PERFORMANCE 3.0 INTRODUCTION This Chapter endeavored to explore the major linkages between poultry sector dev elopment, Human nutrition, and poverty reduction in India by assessing the poten tial role of poultry farming, employment along the poultry supply chain, and inc reased consumption of poultry meat and eggs. 3.1 poultry meat and egg consumption The majority of rural households in lusozi village are net buyers of food, it is estimated that about 74 and 53.7 percent of the marginal and small farmers, and most probably a higher proportion of rural landless, are net buyers of food. Bu t the average food intake is largely insufficient to provide adequate nourishmen t to all family members: according to a World Bank Report, in India the largest majority of pre-school children experience protein-energy malnutrition and micro nutrient deficiency (World Bank, 2005). Amongst the animal source foods, which are a major source of proteins and micron utrients, poultry meat and eggs provide more proteins than swine, cow milk, beef and lamb per unit of intake (GoI, 2005). Thus, greater availability and afforda bility of poultry meat and eggs could contribute to enhanced nutrition (and pove rty reduction), given that rural and urban households allocate more than 15 and 19 percent or their food expenditure to animal source food respectively, althoug h primarily to milk and dairy products (GoI, 2008). Poultry meat and eggs are currently one of the cheapest available sources of ani mal protein for urban Indian consumers because large commercial integrators, whi ch are primarily responsible for the fast growth of the Indian poultry sector, a re providing consumers with low priced poultry products: between 1996 and 2006, the wholesale prices for poultry meat and eggs have been declining or remained c onstant respectively, whereas they have increased for all other livestock commod ities (Fig. 3). This suggests that supply-side factors are stronger determinants of the recent trends in the consumption of poultry products in India than deman d-side factors5 (GoI, 2006b; Rabobank, 2008). 3.2 employment opportunities to the village people Given that landless, marginal and small scale farmers lack the resources, includ ing poultry birds, to farm their way out of poverty, they depend heavily on earnin gs from supplying unskilled wage labor to other farm or non-farm enterprises. The ability to generate an adequate number of productive employment opportunities w ill [therefore] be a major factor on which the inclusiveness of growth will be j udged The Government of Uganda estimates that about 2 million people are employed, ful ly or partly, along the poultry value chain and that an increase in annual per c aput availability of one egg or 50 gm or poultry meat generates about 20,000 to 25,000 full time jobs. This translates into different levels of incremental labor demand depending on a nticipated consumption trends 3.3 Away of poverty reduction According to the 2006 National Sample Survey (NSS) Report on Livestock Ownership (GoI,2006a), the landless, marginal and small scale farmers, which account for about 90 percent of the 25 agricultural households in lusozi village, keep about 85 percent of the poultry stock of the country. Statistically, a landless / marginal / small-scale agricultural household keeps

1.2 nondescript low yielding local birds in the backyard, which would translate into an average flock size of 8 to 9 birds per poultry keeping household. Such b ackyard flocks only make a very minor contribution to rural livelihoods, as the net income per bird per month ranges from Ugxs 10,000 vis--vis a rural poverty li ne set by the Government of Uganda, Increasing the productivity of and returns t o poultry birds, therefore, does not represent a pathway out of poverty for a ty pical rural farmer, unless flock size is significantly increased. Mehta et al. (2002), for instance, report that units below 20,000 birds are too small to generate enough income to sustain a family, although units with some h undreds of birds can be financially viable and can significantly contribute to t he support of rural livelihoods. However, the overall ability of the traditional backyard poultry systems to expa nd production is limited by the availability of the scavenge-based feed resource (Otte et al., 2008). Even though the ownership of few poultry birds does not contribute substantially to rural livelihoods, it provides a mechanism to improve nutrition (particularl y important in children) and alleviate credit constraints faced by the majority of the rural poor. On the one hand, when rural food markets are imperfect, and t he availability and prices of grains and animal proteins at marketplaces are unp redictable, poultry farming serves as an inexpensive device for households to ge nerate highly nutritious food items at minimal cost, because of the low input re quirements and the low opportunity cost of family labour allocated to poultry ca re. On the other hand, when financial markets are imperfect, which is often the case in rural areas, the sale of birds helps cover recurrent minor expenditures, such as school fees, and to deal with unexpected shocks, such as medical fees. But investment in backyard poultry farming could thus enhance nutrition and red uce the vulnerability of landless, marginal and small-scale farmers, but does no t appear to be a promising strategy to achieve widespread poverty reduction and stimulate equitable growth in rural areas. Of course, along the process of devel opment some of the backyard poultry keepers will transform into medium and large -scale market-oriented farmers, but this is not feasible for all or even a major ity of them. If each backyard poultry keeper would expand the flock to say 100 b irds a size which is insufficient to sustain the needs of a rural a family the t otal poultry population of India would exceed 9 billion birds vis--vis 0.5 billio n birds today, input costs would skyrocket, output prices would plummet and the profitability of poultry farming would be negative. This scenario is a typical c ase of fallacy of composition: what works for one backyard poultry keeper does not necessarily work for all of them. CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 CONCLUSION The promotion of backyard poultry farming does not appear a promising strategy f or broad-based poverty reduction, because of the small average flock size kept b y the large majority of rural households in Kalungu district. Nevertheless, back yard poultry farming remains important for rural households, as it ensures a ste ady flow of high quality food and, through cash income, reduces vulnerability. P olicies targeting backyard poultry keepers, therefore, may be an efficient way t o support livelihoods and mitigate malnutrition, but are unlikely to significant ly contribute to poverty reduction and economic growth. The majority of the rural people has limited capital assets and usually depends heavily on earnings from supplying unskilled wage labor to other farm or non-far m enterprises for their livelihoods. The development of the poultry sector is un likely to generate a large number of full time jobs along the supply chain, not only because of economies of scale in both input and output markets, but more fu

ndamentally because of the low unitary value of poultry birds, which makes upstr eam and downstream support services financially profitable only if carried out o n a relatively large scale. The majority of the people in Lusozi village are net buyers of food and proteinenergy and micronutrient malnutrition are widespread in the country. Consequentl y, increased availability and affordability of animal source food would contribu te to improving their livelihoods. Large-scale commercial poultry integrators ar e supplying urban consumers with low-priced poultry meat and eggs but, given tha t wet markets dominate, and will continue to be pervasive in rural India for the coming decades, they are and will remain unable to provide affordable animal so urce food to rural households. Small-scale, rurally-based, and market-oriented p oultry farmers, which can be as efficient in poultry production as large scale p roducers, thus have comparative advantages in supplying rural consumers with low -priced broiler meat and eggs. Policies which support smallholder-centered but market-oriented poultry producti on systems in rural areas appear the most promising option of promoting a pro-poo r development of the poultry sector, as this development path may potentially ben efit an estimated half a million of consumers living on less then 2 US$ in rural areas of Kalungu district through increased availability and affordability of n utrient-dense animal source food. 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS The researcher recommend that, in order for lusozi village to be developed th e following should be put into consideration due to the fact that it is a rural setting The government of Uganda should be in position to provide agriculture e xtension services to farmers or among house holds in rural development s ince they were found insufficient. In this case programs like NAADS should o perate within this area since these people have the potential to utilize the res ources from NAADS. The government should also construct feeder roads to link production area s to market centers for easily transportation food crop production in orde r to open up bigger links between rural areas and urban centers with bi gger market. Since kirambidde is a rural area such roads could promote such pr oduces in near by villages thus income earnings thus boosting their income. More to that ,there is need for the government of Uganda to introduce more and improve standards of education by constructing more primary schools, secondary universal education programmers which in long run reduce of the levels of illiteracy, but since poultry production is mainly under the ad ults therefore the government need to introduce FAL programs to these people so as to acquire more skills in farming, to improve their health, know how to balan ce profits and losses and keep records of their daily activities. There is also need to sensitize people through community seminars and w ork shops by agricultural workers or officers in order to educate the general public on how to apply good methods of farming and also on how to solve the incoming and existing diseases affecting food crop producti on since households are interested. Therefore the Agricultural extension wor kers in conjunction with NAADS they should introduce this to the community.