In households headed by widows, children or grandparents, chickens represent the easiest species to raise for sale and home consumption, and provide a source of high quality protein and micronutrients which play an important role in the nutrition of HIV and AIDS patients. Chickens can make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation and household food security.
Kubatsirana is a Mozambican NGO that offers access to treatment, pastoral care, general support for people living with HIV, as well as youth prevention HIV programs. In the local dialect, Kubatsirana means ‘helping each other’ and the association employs holistic approaches to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS among vulnerable populations including children, youth and women.
In 2014 KYEEMA Foundation worked with Kubatsirana to assist vulnerable households in a rural community of Manica province, Mozambique. Through the promotion of village chicken production, activities contributed to improved nutrition and health and provide an alternative source of income for the most disadvantaged families.
Thirty one households were selected and trained in low cost methods of keeping chickens, with an emphasis on disease control and improved feeding. Twenty-seven women and four men from the selected households and two livestock technicians participated in the training.
Each household received a small foundation flock of one rooster and two hens, purchased from the local market and one year’s free vaccination against Newcastle disease (three campaigns per year).
This activity followed on from previous work with Kubatsirana and another local NGO, ASVIMO, from 2005-7, where 98 vulnerable households received three hens and a rooster and one year’s free vaccination.