By Chris Coats | Executive Director
Trailblazer’s chicken raising projects have two goals. One goal is to help reduce poverty and malnutrition of women and children through the training of chicken raising to interested farmers for a means to earn sustainable income, have self-economic independence and be able to support the community.
The second goal is, by sharing and providing chicken raising techniques and marketing connections to a local farmer to create a chicken farm business in his/her area. That farmer can become a model farmer in his/her village and inspire the formation of other groups of chicken farmers in the community that can supply chickens to the local market.
Farmers selected for this project had to meet all the conditions necessary to have a successful chicken farm. They had received chicken raising training by Trailblazer, they had a large pond on their property for growing chicken food, their property was large enough to sustain a chicken barn with trees around the property. All of these factors made good conditions for a chicken farm. Farmers of chicken farms are directly benefited from this project because they have the ability to raise chickens for sale in the local market, giving them the opportunity to earn a higher rate of income and moving them from a high rate of poverty into more sustainable livelihoods.
Other interested farmers in the village benefit from this project by being able to start their own chicken farm by receiving chicken raising training from the initial farmer, free of charge. The initial farmer agrees to sell chicks to other farmers in the community at a discounted rate of 50%. This is akin to the “trickle down effect,” or the proverbial phrase of “teach a man to fish - not just give him a fish,” which is a method Trailblazer employs in its implementation process. The project enhances and increases the number of economic opportunities available to member farmers.
The community benefits from the project because of the financial contributions [sharing profits] that are made into the Village Fund by the farmers. These contributions help the community’s Village Fund maintain a reasonable level of funding capacity, whereby qualifying villagers can take out loans from the Fund to support a business startup, make home improvements, pay for medical care, or purchase livestock or seed. This micro-loan process provides a convenient funding model for all the farmers to continually progress in their economic pursuits and build a life of better security.
Completion is determined by the success of constructing the structures needed, raising healthy chickens, and selling the adult chickens in the market. Trailblazer continues to monitor the project and assist the farmers with chicken raising consulting and market activities to ensure the success of the project now and into the future.
Trailblazer’s Food Security Supervisor, Ms. Thanut, recently monitored a chicken farm and reports the farmer is taking good care of their chickens, is more confident in their chicken raising techniques, and the chickens are growing up fast, are healthy and continue to be productive every day, no chickens are dying of disease. The farm has a total of 260 chickens. The second season of raising has been better than the first season. There are 100 chickens aged 1.5 months and weigh about 0.004Kg-0.005kg, and 100 chickens aged 2.5 months and weigh about 0.009kg-1kg. The price of chickens in the market is 15,000riel per 1 kg [$3.75 USD]. There are also 60 breeding chickens. The farmer can control their chicken productions, deal with chicken diseases, practices good breeding process, makes own chicken feed, has connections with the chicken buyers, and is earning income. The next stage is to produce chicks for sale to the neighbors in the community.
We wish to thank our donors who contribute to our agricultural projects that make a true difference in the lives of rural villagers by growing incomes and reducing poverty.
By Chris Coats | Executive Director
By Chris Coats | Executive Director
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