Training impact on household economy from backyard chicken

Abstract

One hundred out of 200 randomly interviewed females in 10 villages of Mardan were selected to establish female groups. The members were trained in backyard chicken production by Female Livestock Extension Workers under the Livestock Extension Women Worker project, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan. Regular follow up visits were made and data prior to and after one-year of training were collected to assess the impact of training on contribution of backyard chicken production to household economy and other associated problems. Training significantly (p<0.05) improved contribution of backyard chicken to household economy. Hatchability, mortality and flock size had a significant (p<0.01) association with cash income obtained from backyard chicken. Extension workers had mobility problems and the handouts/material provided was not fully understandable by members. Extension workers couldn't fully transform most of the terminology regarding chicken production into local language. Late arrival of extension workers to the appointed places was one of the major complaints made by most of the members. Training, regular monitoring of the production activities, increased flock size, effective control of diseases and extending extension services to the whole community would be important factors to increase subsistent income obtained from backyard chicken.

Keywords: training; household economy, backyard chicken, Pakistan

South African Journal of Agricultural Extension Vol. 34(1) 2005: 44-54