Empowering India's Rural Poor through Poultry

It is coming up to one year since we expanded our Poultry Development Services programme beyond West Bengal to support some of the poorest marginalised communities in the neighbouring state of Odisha.  As you can see, the programme is now in full swing!

Shanti started our training programme and received her first toolkit of ten chicks in May 2022. After three months, she was able to sell some of her fully grown chickens.

In these photos you can see how pleased she is to be selling her chickens and to have cash in her hand for the first time. She sold her first batch of chickens for 1,200 rupees (c. £12) and used the money to feed her family and invest in her growing enterprise. Shanti is representative of so many of the women we are working with in rural villages with Poultry Development Services.  For them, raising chickens is like having an ATM in their own backyard!

You can meet more women like Shanti on our YouTube channel where we have posted some short videos called 'Take One Minute'.  They are all filmed in one take by the Shivia team during our field visits - we hope you will take one minute to watch them.

Watch our 'Take One Minute' videos here

Thank you for helping us to empower women like Shani to earn a decent income with dignity.

Best wishes from,

The Team at Shivia

INTRODUCTION

This is my field visit report on Shivia's PDS programme with NIRMAN at Daspala Block in Nayagarh District Odisha from 19th October to 21st October 2022.

PURPOSE OF THE VISIT

The purpose of my visit was to see the progress of Shivia's Poultry Development Services Programme with our operational partner NGO Nirman in Nayagarh district, Odisha; to check the reality of the project and the help and service our farmers are receiving from the organisation. This apart, it was a very beautiful experience for me to communicate with farmers and official staff which gave me crystal clarity of the project.

EXPERIENCE ON FIELD VISIT

During my field visit the experience was completely ecstatic and meaningful. I was in wonder to see the farmer's volition and hard work towards the poultry farming. In addition to this, I felt very happy to see the involvement of women in poultry farming, which is unbelievable. The farmers were very enthusiastic and inquisitive for knowing more about poultry farming. I saw that the farmers are seriously following the scientific method towards poultry farming in terms of their coop, feed and medicine with vaccination, as a result of which they got very good profits from their first toolkit. I felt very satisfied after hearing from the farmers that they spent their first income towards their children’s education and health and investing in another toolkit for further increasing their income.

SUMMARY

During the visit I found that the farmers are following our field staff's instructions and scientific guidance thoroughly. The farmers are doing their poultry farming by maintaining all types of precautions in a systematic way such as keeping a clean and safe environment for the chicks plus correct types of feed to give, timely vaccination with medicine etc. I was happy to hear from farmers that our field staff are very diligent in their work, which ultimately gave best results to farmers.

Finally, I must express that my visit to our PDS programme with Nirman was very fruitful and impactful. I also got to know how PDS is creating an impact on socio-economic conditions of tribal women and made them self-independent in the society.  Last but not least, I would like to convey my special thanks to each and every member of NIRMAN for their outstanding support and co-operation towards me during the visit.

Links:

• Shivia's PDS Programme