Bridging the gap

With the recent emphasis on gender in development activities there has been a tendency for poultry production to be seen as a means of reaching women's groups. But providing training exclusively to women is not necessarily the most efficient approach as division of labour and decision-making roles among the different household members has to be taken into consideration. Nonetheless, it has been realized that targeting women for training can lead to their greater empowerment, particularly if they are able to participate as poultry advisors, extension workers and vaccinators, and for providing advice and support to other women poultry owners.

credit: Ministry of agriculture, water and rural development, Namibia

Overall, it is estimated that, in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, probably more than 70% of poultry keepers are women but, in some regions, ownership may be shared with menfolk, children or other family members. Relatively small changes in poultry production improvement, which are often under-estimated in their impact, can have extensive implications: influencing, or example, changes to flock structure and numbers, the demand for household labour and capital, supply of poultry inputs and access to markets. Such changes can often limit, or in some cases, jeopardize the expected benefits from technical interventions. For instance, an increase in flock size requires higher investment costs in terms of supplementary feed, health care and housing. This in turn places an extra demand on household labour which, in the case of women with other important daily activities to perform, may not be feasible.

For technical interventions to be adopted, dissemination of information is largely achieved through extension. However, for scavenger-based poultry production systems, villages may be dispersed and road access is generally poor. Even if access is not a problem, it is widely acknowledged that extension services have, in the past, focused on larger livestock that have greater status. Extension messages have also generally failed to reach women. In order for extension agents to reach women producers, there is a need to understand the role of women in household related activities. Improved delivery may be achieved through group delivery but it is also important to appreciate that effective technical interventions that result in an increase in women's income can lead to a change in status and give rise to conflict within the household.

In many cultures, it is unacceptable for male extension agents to address women in the village. So if extension agents are to effectively understand and empathize with small-scale poultry farmers in areas where the vast majority are women and provide services that are likely to be more effective, the advisors should be also women. Women poultry extension agents may be more at ease with the use of drama and song to convey information which can be performed in local languages. This is particularly important where illiteracy is common. In Mozambique, a project investigating the control of Newcastle Disease (ND) in village chickens has used participatory approaches to involve local farmers and artists to produce a variety of extension material including: radio programmes; a ND vaccination song with versions in Portuguese and three local languages; a pamphlet and poster in Portuguese; a drama; a ND field manual written in Portuguese; and a flip chart for use by extension staff with large line-drawings and narrative in Portuguese. Information provided in Portuguese is translated by extension officers into appropriate local languages. It has taken time to develop these materials but, in a region where farmers were generally unaware of the existence of a ND vaccine or were skeptical about its value (particularly when few children are vaccinated against human diseases), it has been important to disseminate the information as broadly and effectively as possible.

In areas where health services are available for children, Community Health Nurses can also assist with the dissemination of information. Whilst discussing infant health issues, nurses can also promote the nutritional value of chicken meat and eggs and stress that household consumption can be increased through the use of ND vaccine to improve flock health. The nurses do not have to provide detailed information, only to stimulate interest for the women to contact their local poultry advisors.

Veterinarians and extension officers cannot be expected to be experts on gender. However, it is necessary to appreciate the social and economic implications of a project as well as the technical feasibility of interventions. Extension activities should be designed to facilitate the participation of poultry farmers and different approaches (group meetings and demonstrations, individual farmer visits, mass media communication) may be required to achieve broad dissemination of information and the effective uptake of interventions.

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