Description of the Traditional Poultry Industry in West Africa: The Case of Senegal and Togo

Abstract

The traditional poultry industry covers more than 70-80% of the poultry production in West Africa countries. Surveys conducted in 2010-2011 on the market and producers present in the surrounding rural weekly markets have allowed to characterize the actors in the sector, to identify their activities estimate the average number of incoming and outgoing poultry in these markets, and to assess biosafety level in these markets in both West African countries including Senegal and Togo. The survey of the poultry sector in rural communities can be described as a more or less complex circuit, where the major actors in the sector are: i) producers who are farmers living in villages or rural communities; (ii) the primary and secondary collectors who buy poultry and sell them in rural markets (weekly) or collection markets (daily); and iii) wholesalers who gather poultry from the collectors for delivery them to larger markets particularly in urban markets and/or outside the country. Trade flows of live poultry between actors vary according to countries. Cleaning in the farms appeared moderately frequent (3-4 per week) with the use of disinfectants in 15-25% of cases, biosafety in weekly markets, acceptable (control at the arrival and weekly cage cleaning) and the mortality rate (30-40% among adults and 60-70% in chicks) remains high. In our study, the return of unsold chickens in the farms could be a practical risk of propagation and maintenance of infectious disease in this sector.

Keywords : Traditional poultry, Chain actors, Marketing chain, Biosecurity.