1.1 Importance of indigenous chicken

Transcription

1 1.1 Importance of indigenous chicken Many rural households in most developing countries keep poultry in their farms. Poultry provides food and a small cash income for the family. They are used for socio-cultural functions and as presents to strengthen social relationships (Kaudia and Kitalyi, 2002; Whyte, 2002; Njenga, 2005; Udo et al., 2006). Chicken population in sub-saharan countries accounts for over 78% of the total poultry population (Tadelle et al., 2003 ). Of about 28.6 million chicken in Kenya (FAO, 2011), 70% are indigenous chicken (IC) (Pym et al., 2006; Olwande et al., 2010), producing over 71% of the poultry meat (Kiptarus, 2005), and about 42% of eggs (MoLD, 2006). It contributes about 7% of the agricultural GDP, compared to 3.5% from the dairy sector (MoLD, 2007). It supplies most of the required and affordable animal source proteins, particularly to the rural poor smallholder farmers (Gueye, 2002a). Small species, especially the IC, play a very significant role in the financing of crop production by providing cash to pay for seeds and food during the critical period of the growing season (Scherf, 2000). The IC rearing can also be used as a means to reduce poverty and to improve the livelihoods of women and children (Kaudia and Kitalyi, 2002; Dolberg, 2003; Kato et al., 2008). It is equally important in promoting gender equality since women can have control over production and sale of IC and products (World Bank et al., 2009). The IC and other poultry species are sometimes used as the first investment in the livestock ladder (in the sense that one can move from poultry to goat/sheep to cattle, etc) to increase income and get out of poverty (Fakhrul and Jabbar, 2005). 1.2 Indigenous chicken genotypes The most common ecotypes or genotypes present in Kenya are naked neck, normal feathered, dwarf sized, raffled feathered, crested head, shank feathered, frizzled feathered, bearded, tailless, the giant type and the Kuchi. The local names are often derived from the morphological characteristics and phenotypic description of birds (Njenga, 2005; Mwacharo et al., 2007; Magothe et al., 2010). However, the local IC types are genetically related to those in Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan (Mwacharo et al., 2007). The Kuchi, which is easily noticed by its distinctive upright stance, is common in Tanzania (Msoffe et al., 2005; Lwelamira et al., 2008), and at the coastal islands of Kenya. Furthermore, the IC varies according to their body size, productive and 2

2 reproductive performance, adaptability, and plumage colour among others (Tadelle et al., 2003; Msoffe et al., 2006; Dana et al., 2010; Magothe et al., 2010). 1.3 Production systems and the challenges in production of indigenous chicken There are two major classifications of chicken production systems in Kenya. These are the commercial intensive and the village poultry systems. The form of inputs, outputs, and the breeds involved distinguishes the two systems (Gondwe and Wollny, 2007; Gueye, 2009). The exotic chicken, which includes layers and broilers, are mainly kept under the intensive production system. However, the IC raised under the village smallholder systems can further be grouped into free-range or scavenging, semiintensive or semi-scavenging and confined full-ration or intensive systems. In the free range system the birds are left to scavenge for feeds and sheltered in the farmer s house or in simple structures within the household s compound (Menge et al., 2005). The inputs involved in the production, and the outputs are low (Muchadeyi et al., 2004; Udo et al., 2006), and it is the most common production system in many parts of Africa (Gueye, 2009). The semi-intensive system involves supplementation and confinement at some periods of the day. The birds are fed in the morning before being released, in the course of the day or in the evening. This system is mostly practiced in the rural areas during the time when the crops are still at their early stages of development and enclosing the birds protects them from destruction. In the intensive system, the chickens are kept under confinement with the provision of feeds, water and medicine (Menge et al., 2005). The IC flock size varies across the systems and range between 1 to a maximum of 100 birds in the rural areas. The flock size is mainly influenced by season and time of the year (Okeno et al., 2010; Olwande et al., 2010). The major constraints to the health and increased productivity of IC are diseases and poor management (Mungube et al., 2008). The ICs in the free-range system are frequently faced with threats from the Newcastle disease (Gueye, 2002b). Moreover, parasites cause distress and compete for feeds especially to the free-ranging ICs because of poor parasite control, feeding and housing (Kaingu et al., 2010; Sabuni et al., 2010). This means that diseases and parasites contribute to slow growth, low productive performance and high mortality rates (Gueye, 2009). Proper management in terms of housing, supplementation, vaccination against diseases and control of pests, would assist in improving productivity of the IC (Kingori et al., 2010; Sabuni et al., 2010; Ochieng et al., 2011). This also includes protection against the predators and theft 3

3 (Muchadeyi et al., 2004; Ondwasy et al., 2006). To harness the potential of indigenous chicken, Kitalyi (1998) suggested new approaches that aim at increasing flock productivity through improved extension services, farmer training and preventive treatment of chicks. Despite the various challenges facing the sub-sector, compared to other countries in Africa, chicken production in Kenya rather popular. The figure 1.1, 1.2 (a) and (b) shows the trend in chicken population, meat and egg production in Kenya and selected African countries based on FAOSTAT data from year 2000 to In these countries, chicken are raised under similar production systems and face almost identical constraints in production and marketing. Figure 1.1: Chicken population trends Figure1.2 (a) and (b): Egg and Meat production trends Source: FAOSTAT (2011) 4

4 1.4 Efforts to improve production and conservation of indigenous chicken in Kenya The IC are unimproved and have undergone years of natural selection. They possess unique attributes that enable them survive under scavenging conditions with the ability to consume otherwise unutilised feed, tolerate harsh environmental conditions and resist diseases better than the commercial exotic chicken (Horst, 1989; Minga et al., 2004). However, they have light body weights, and their productivity is relatively low (Msoffe et al., 2002; Sonaiya and Swan, 2004; Kingori et al., 2010). Breeding is mostly uncontrolled and therefore, a high inbreeding rate of almost 8 % at the household level and 3.1 % at the village level is considered a production constraint and above the recommended 1% for the chicken population (Okeno et al., 2010). In Kenya, several programmes have been undertaken in the past to improve the IC, the major one being the cockerel and pullet exchange program, which operated under the National Poultry Development Programme (NPDP) launched in 1976 and terminated in 1994 (Nyange, 1995; Kamau, 2000). This program was donor-funded and implemented in five phases under the Ministry of Agriculture. Generally, its main focus was to improve on the body weights and egg production through crossbreeding with exotic breeds (Nyange, 1995). However, there has hardly been any programme aiming at conserving the diverse IC genetic resources in Kenya. Scherf (2000) indicates that about 50% of the chicken breeds in the world are at risk of extinction. Since the IC are unique sources of some rare alleles, which can be utilised in future breeding programmes (Muir et al., 2008; Besbes, 2009), their conservation is vital. Therefore, for effective utilisation and conservation of IC genetic resources, breeding goals for the smallholder IC production systems need to be defined (Menge et al., 2005). Currently, the indigenous chicken improvement program (INCIP), which is a collaboration between Egerton University, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Livestock Development (MoLD) intends to carry out selection within the IC genotypes from different environments and improving their productivity. Most of these programmes implemented by government, research institutions, or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are targeted at improving productivity of IC. To improve production and ultimately conserve while utilising the IC genetic resources, some of the priority pathways suggested for the stakeholders are: (i) focus on disease prevention, especially the Newcastle disease (ND) and the endo and ectoparasites, (ii) reduction of losses by protecting IC from predators, thieves, etc, which 5

5 can be made possible by proper housing and structures to protect young chicks during the daytime from predators, (iii) improve nutrition through supplementation for better production performance, which will also enhance prolificacy and growth rates of the IC, (iv) propagation of technical innovation based on indigenous technologies, and knowledge base. This includes the use of traditional brooders to hatch eggs produced and manipulation of broody birds to continue egg laying which would improve prolificacy in IC, (v) selective breeding and improvement of IC, which includes crossbreeding and lastly, (vi) encouraging conservation of IC e.g either in situ or ex situ. 1.5 Marketing and consumption of IC products and the future perspective One of the prerequisites of any breeding and conservation activity is the understanding of the economic basis of IC keeping and utilization. The marketing system for IC products, mainly in the rural areas in Africa is mostly informal and poorly developed (Gueye, 2001). In Kenya, the IC farmers are not organized and lack market information, therefore, have no control of the prices for their products. The markets are mainly controlled by the intermediaries who handle the IC products for sale to the consumers. The markets are typically structured in three levels, which include; the primary or local, secondary or regional and the tertiary or terminal markets (Bett et al., 2009). The primary or the local markets are found at the village level and operate in designated places and on particular days of the week in the rural areas. The secondary markets are in towns where a large number of traders are involved in the marketing activities. They act as a link between the local and the tertiary markets. The birds and eggs are assembled at this stage for the advancing markets while the tertiary markets are found in the large urban towns and cities. The preference for IC products is high (Bett et al., 2009; Heft-Neal et al., 2009). There has been a rapid expansion of the demand for IC products due to the increasing standards of living, incomes and population pressure (FAO, 2002). Furthermore, the changes in lifestyles and the emergence of the supermarket chains created a second line of demand for convenient ready to cook chicken products which currently is not adequately met by IC producers and the IC market chain (Bett et al., 2009). Therefore, selection of local genotypes, especially for faster growth and proper management in terms of health care, nutrition, and housing should be emphasized to satisfy this demand. The safety of IC products as well as the carcass quality and the poor market projections on supply and demand for chicken and chicken products are considered to 6