Lynette Corporal – Newsmekong*
BANGKOK, Nov 6 2007 (IPS) – It may look like everything is going against them but with a little bit of luck, lots of hard work and creativity, small poultry farmers who have been affected by avian flu outbreaks have a good chance of economic survival, say experts here.
One of the biggest myths is the widespread belief that the onset of avian flu which has often been blamed on open and backyard farming means that large-scale and commercial poultry production is the only way to go in the coming years, Samuel Jutzi of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in an interview at the end of a global conference here Tuesday.
There is still a place for the local supply of poultry, particularly in developing countries, Jutzi, the director of FAO s animal production and health division, told the conference entitled Poultry in the 21st Century: Avian Influenza and Beyond here.
We are still seeing a substantial production at the village levels of poultry products and there is a continuing demand for variety in terms of production, he explained.
Attended by commercial and small-scale producers, traders, research and development partners, the FAO conference aims to explore and advise on the best scenarios for the future of the poultry sector , especially in expanding and meeting global demand for poultry products.
Small-scale poultry industry, including backyard farming, suffered a double-whammy following the bird flu outbreak that started in 2003 in Asia, and spread to Europe and elsewhere. Many of these businesses closed down after their flocks were suspected of having the H5N1 virus, thus pushing up demand for poultry products worldwide. The rising cost of feed and stringent biosecurity measures have also become scourges for these smallholders.
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Jutzi says that small-scale producers have been marginalised to a large extent in the development of the poultry sector. However, these producers surface again in the shape of organic production, lifestyle choice production where families, all of a sudden, have a few chickens not out of economic need but to satisfy specific requirements and demands, he added.
He cautions, however, that one has to be careful in assessing the situation, especially when it involves economies where there are very rapid growth rates and thus leave the smallholders opportunities rather squeezed .
According to the International Food Policy Research Institute s (IFPRI) Dr Clare Narrod, key changes poultry production in the world such as high demand, population growth and urbanisation put a lot of pressure on the smallholders.
For instance, the increased demand for ensuring delivery of animal sourced food has a negative effect on smallholders, she said. They may not be able to pass or meet import and production requirements, and not have enough marketing channels due to low trust level among the clients.
To be able to compete, they need to have better and new feed, have access to temperature-controlled housing and be trained in how to better manage disease control measures.
But large-scale poultry farmers and smallholders need to get their act together, with the help of the government and the private sector, if they want to meet future challenges, many participants explained.
Historically, poultry production has been used as a tool for development and have had lots of support. Now, more than ever, support perhaps can come in the form of assistance of organisations to producers in accessing markets, more than in terms of technologies. There is a need to organise women and farmers groups to produce sufficient quantities of poultry products. The management of wet markets via an organised community is also necessary, said Jutzi.
In China, for instance, Beijing s Chinese Poultry Science Society president Dr Yijun Han predicts that demand for poultry products will continue to rise and that meat consumption will double in 2020. From 77 billion yuan (10 billion US dollars) in 1995, the government has increased its budget for poultry production development to 300 billion yuan (40 billion dollars) in 2005, he said.
FAO senior officer Anni McLeod lauds Thailand for having adapted well to such changes and challenges. Before avian flu struck the country in 2003, Thailand was fifth among the world s largest poultry exporters, exporting 70 percent of local poultry stocks.
It is also seriously looking at compartmentalisation, which determines disease-free zones, and was probably the only country that conducted x-ray surveys , where they visited every house to determine the extent of the damage brought by the outbreak, she added.
Jutzi urges governments to develop opportunities for small-scale farmers and realise that commercial-scale operations may not be as useful for the development of the regions .
In rural development, poultry has something to contribute and this is where small-scale operations common in homes and rural areas in wide area of Asia can be useful. In some conditions where the economy is growing very fast, smallholders don t have a chance at this point, Jutzi pointed out. Only those who know how to adjust can survive.
(*This story was written for the Imaging Our Mekong Programme coordinated by IPS Asia-Pacific)
