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Abstract A Smallholder Poultry Model has over the past 10 years been developed in Bangladesh comprising a small flock of some 10 semi-scavenging hens as the basic unit and an integrated chain of in-put supplies, services, and marketing to establish and maintain the a small flock of hens. In 1996 it was established 1 million smallholders in Bangladesh and additional 1 million is planned with support from the Danish Development Agency, Asian Development Bank, the International Fund for Agriculture Development, and the World Bank. The target group is rural women belonging to the poorest segment of the village population and female-headed families have first priority. About 10 % of the families in the project areas are directly involved in the programme, but the supply and service part of the integration chain also provide supply and services to other families in the village. The Concept is based on establishing an enabling environment such as: in-put supply facilities, service facilities, and micro-credit schemes. The facilitator (NGO) provide the learning process through group formation, awareness programme and extension support for establishing and maintaining the Concept. The beneficiaries operate on free market condition and no subsidies are involved at beneficiary level. Comprehensive impact surveys have documented a positive impact already at the end of the 2nd project year: the family income has increased with more than 30 %, the nourishment has been improved, and the savings have drastically been increased. The savings are mainly used to start other income generating activities. The main inputs are feed, partly as scavenged feed and partly as supplemental feed. The supplemental fraction of the feed can, to some extend, be by-products from the local milling industry such as wheat bran, rice polish, and oil cakes, but it can also be local produced products such as duck weeds, snails, worms, ants, etc. The research background for utilizing local produced feed as an integral part of a bio-system is limited, but it is certainly a potential for separation of the bio-mass into a fraction for ruminant and a fraction for poultry. With background in the positive experiences from Bangladesh in using poultry as a poverty breaker it is established a Danish Network for Poultry Production and Health in developing countries based on a paradigm comprising: human resource development, research and development, and support to planning and implementation of development projects based on a smallholder poultry concept. Key words: Traditional poultry holdings, by-products, Bangladeshi mod, semi-scavenging..
The Bangladeshi Model Introduction The terminology semi-scavenging is used for small poultry flocks under partly controlled management condition and where the scavenge feed account for a substantial part of the total feed consumed. A Semi-Scavenging Poultry Model is an integrated system to provide supplies and services to establish and to maintain a semi-scavenging poultry sector. Scavenging poultry account for far the largest number of livestock in the developing countries. Scavenging hens are, however, more or less neglected as an income generating potential by institutions as well as by the poultry holders themselves. The main activities to improve scavenging poultry holdings have been introduction of cockerel exchange programs and vaccination campaigns. However, the effect has been rather small because these projects have not been components in a comprehensive production and management system for poultry production. In Bangladesh a successful model for semi-scavenging poultry holding has been developed over the last decade. In 1996 a total of 1 million semi-scavenging smallholders were established within this model and the number is increasing with 200,000 per year. The Model The Model is a three pronged organization where each prong has its specialized functions. The institutional structure behind the Model is the Government through the Department of Livestock Services, DLS and NGO's, mainly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, BRAC. In figure 1 is shown the three lines involved in the Model and the tasks of each line. Production line Breeders. Small low cost parent farms with 25 parent hens per farm. The hens are kept in confinement and fed with balanced feed. The Parent Stock are of improved breed such as White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red and Fayouimi and the male and female are of different breed.  Mini Hatcheries. Small low cost hatcheries operated with close to 100 % solar energy. Black pillows filled with rice husk is heated in the sun and the eggs are placed into a cylinder between 2 pillows for hatching. Each hatchery has a capacity to hatch 1,000 chickens per month.  Smallholders. Small farms with only 10 hens, mainly improved
breeds supplied by the Chicken Rearers and a few Desi hens(local breed).
The hens are kept under semi-scavenging conditions and fed with 30
-70 % supplemented feed and scavenge for the remaining part.
 Supply line Parent stock. The parent stock are supplied by DLS to market price for day old chickens. The breeds are mainly Fayoumi, White Leghorn and Rode Island Red. The parent stock could as well be supplied by private breeders. Feed. The feed is supplied by a number of small feedsellers located in the villages. The sellers purchase local by-products from the milling industry and mix it with fishmeal, vitamins and mineral. A feed seller sells about 1 ton of feed per month. Vaccine/medicine. A number of Poultry y Workers are trained to vaccinate the birds. The vaccine is supplied by the Government and the Poultry Workers charge a vaccination fee. Marketing. The eggs are collected by Egg Collectors and marketed in the nearby towns or the poultry holders sell the eggs and chickens themselves in the village. Service line. Group formation. The involved NGO forms small village groups with some 30 members. The groups hold weekly meetings to discuss relevant subjects and new poultry holders are selected from the groups. Training. Before a poultry holder is established she has been through a 4 days training programme followed by refreshment courses. Credit. Depending on the activities each member is provided with a small loan ranging from USD 25 to USD 200. The repayment period is 1 year. Extension. Extension services are provided as a cooperation between the Government and the involved NGO. Modification: The 12 model components visualized in figure 1
are all of equal important. However, several of the components can be compiled
in a cooperative or a commercial operation and thereby be adapted to other
conditions than prevailing in Bangladesh.
Smallholders constitute 95 % of the units in the integrated model shown in figure 1. The sustainability of the model relay therefore fully on the viability of the smallholders. A smallholder is a rather complex operation and, even small in size,
it comprise several activities and products as shown in figure 2. This
complexity of activities do it possible for the individual smallholder
to adapt her operation to the prevailing market condition and demand.
 Institutional Framework The structure of a smallholder production system does in many ways reflect an entire poultry sector with parent stock, hatchery, rearers and broiler and egg producers. The infrastructure is further supported by the supply and service functions which are an integral part of the model. The project concept implies that 10 % of the population in the project area is directly involved as smallholders or as one of the supply and service activity. There is, as such, established an environment for other to establish themselves within the poultry business. In figure 3 is illustrated the planned institutional frame work of the model. In Bangladesh mainly BRAC, an NGO, is responsible for the implementation in close cooperation with the Department of Livestock Services. It is the intention to involve 10 master students per year in field research programmes.
 Furthermore Danida is in the process of developing a structure, together
with the Agricultural
Target Group
Socio-economic aspects. To be involved in the process of establishing and operating a small flock of poultry is very educative. The women learn the value of proper finance- business- and production management. Very often, therefore, the participating women, after having been in the poultry programme for a year or two, starts other economic activities in addition to the poultry business. The response to proper management is very quick in poultry rearing and the road is very short between training and experienced practical impact of new technologies and therefore very educative. A small flock of 10 hens can, in many areas, provide the same income as a woman day labour, which means that the woman can stay at home and take care of the children and other family activities without affecting the family income. Awareness Scavenging poultry account for by far the largest number of livestock
in developing countries, but is more or less neglected as an income generating
activity by institution and by the poyltryholder themselves.
Feed Inputs The terminology Semi-scavenging is used for small poultry flocks
kept under partly controlled management conditions and where the scavenged
feed account for a substantial part of the total feed consumed. A Semi-Scavenging
Poultry Model is and integrated system to provide supplies and services
to establish and maintain a semi-scavenging poultry sector. ( Jensen 1996)
In the tables are shown an example of the total demand for fed and for supplemental feed in a village with 200 households.  In Bangladesh a family make an income on mixing and selling about 24 tons of feed per year.  Discussion Poultry has more or less been neglected by the development community as an income generating activity. However, experiences from Bangladesh clearly show the important of using poultry in rural poverty alleviation programmes and also indicate the potential of using poultry as an integral part in integrated farming systems. The current research base for rural poultry keeping is very limited and scattered, especially regarding using of local produced feed as a supplement to scavenged feed. The questions for discussing are: 1. Which kind of locally produced feed, including by-products, have comparative advantages as poultry feed. 2. Which kind of feeding systems shall be applied for combining the advantages of scavenged feed with supplemental feed. The rational behind the semi-scavenging model is that the fewer eggs produced per hen is compensated by lower feed cost assuming that scavenging feed is available without any cost. The availability of scavenged feed, locally produced by-products, and feed grown on marginal land is as such the cornerstone in the model, but also the most difficult item to deal with, especially the quality and quantity of the scavenged feed consumed. The gap between the scavenged feed available and the feed required has to be filled with supplemental feed. In order to compose a balanced supplemental diet the quality and quantity of the scavenged feed has to be known, and that is impossible. Consequently, the effort shall be concentrated on innovation of a feeding system ( kind of cafeteria feeding) in which the hens balance the diet themselves and still keep their motivation for scavenging for the main part of their feed. References Alam, J. 1997. Impact of Smallholder Livestock Development Project in
Some Areas of Rural Bangladesh .
Jensen, Hans Askov 1996. Semi Scavenging Model for Rural Poultry Holding. Proceedings, XX World’s Poultry Congress, New Delhi, India. Volumen -1. Jensen, Hans Askov 1996. Semi-Scavenging Poultry Flock. Proceedings of a Workshop. Tune Landboskole, Denmark. Editor: Frands Dolberg and Poul Henning Petersen. Jensen, Hans Askov. 1998. Network for Poultry and Health in Developing
Countries. Proceedings of a Workshop. Tune Landboskole, Denmark. In press
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