Backyard poultry farming, using native breeds is an easy, less risky and viable way of increasing income while alleviating poverty and addressing malnutrition. With the initiation of small time poultry farming enterprises, citizens of Andhra Pradesh have shown that poultry farming can be extremely beneficial. In 2016, the department of Animal Husbandry and The Tribal Welfare Departments of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, designed the Rural Desi Backyard Poultry Program with the objective of improving the income and nutrition of 13000 Adivasi households. The services include improved production and healthcare services, establishing a breeding form enterprise and a Common Interest Group (CIG) poultry fund at the cluster level. PedaKodapalli is a village in Pedabayalu mandal, with 102 households. Majority of them are poor depending on agriculture and wage labour for their livelihoods. Some households reared poultry in their backyards but had to discontinue the practice, owing to several reasons such as lack of supply of native chicken breeds. They had to rely on commercially produced eggs and chicken for their own consumption. In 2016, WASSAN began working in the village, and community meetings were conducted with Self Help Groups (SHGs) to help people understand about the program. CIGs were formed and every member had to contribute Rs 300, out of which Rs 100 went towards the lifetime membership of the group and the remaining was a prepaid amount to avail healthcare services for the birds. Each CIG household was supported with Rs. 3000 (Rs 2700 towards construction of night shelter and Rs 300 towards purchase of five 45-day old chicks) to start backyard poultry. A breeder farm was started to ensure local produce and supply chickens to local CIG members. Local women were trained to provide healthcare to chicken and other livestock. Now, the people are able to consume desi chicken and eggs and supplement their living by selling poultry. Read the full story in the link below:
Pedakodapalli: The Backyard Poultry Farming
