Abstract:
Indigenous chickens (IC) contribute significantly to nutrition and socioeconomic wellbeing of rural households. However, despite their potential, production remains low. Attempts to improve IC production among smallholder farmers in Makueni county, Eastern Kenya have achieved little success due to a variety of constraints. This paper explores IC production characteristics and compares the ranks assigned to production and marketing constraints across geographic regions and in male and female-headed households. A descriptive quantitative household survey of 1217 respondents drawn from IC rearing households was conducted and the results integrated with qualitative findings from 22 informants. Results showed an average flock size of 14.9 ± 15.94 IC per household, with female- headed households having relatively fewer chicken than male-headed households. However, relatively more chicken (15.9 ± 18.9) were lost per household during the last disease outbreak compared to the number kept at the time of study. Production system was largely free-range in nature with minimal provision of supplementary feeds. Disease (1.13±0.5), predation (3.16±1.9) and low market prices (3.89±1.9) were three top ranked (Mean Rank±SD) constraints in that order. Lack of capital, high cost of inputs, poor access to extension services and poor access to knowledge ranked significantly higher in female-headed households and in remote areas, while low market price ranked higher in male-headed households. Failure to agree on the selling price was the major constraint to marketing, while rejection of IC due to diseases, inability to agree on selling price and rejection due to size ranked higher in female-headed households compared to male-headed households. Interventions modeled towards improving biosecurity measures to curb diseases, financial empowerment and facilitating access to markets for smallholder farmers should be prioritized.
