Build a small business for families in Cambodia

When visiting with our local partner CFI some chicken farmers in Battambang, everyting appeared to be on track. The hens were laying eggs, small chickens were hatching and running around the place, supervised by an alert mother hen.

The situation in Battambang has changed dramatically over the last 3 months. An agressive avian flu hit the chicken farmers, family by family. The outbreak was very violent, even locals died of infections as we learned even in the news here. For our team, this was a hard blow. We had planned for vacinations of all hens and new hatched chickens. When visiting we got cofirmation that all chickens have been vacinated according vetenary recommendation. It is very difficult to understand what has happend and to identify the root causes for this heavy blow.

We certainly want to continue support income generation for the local families We are currently discussing what is the best way forward. Should we just restart an restock the farmers? This is not to difficult, as the key infrastructure (pens) is still available. But there is a considerable risk, that the avian flu hits again. Other options under discussion are : Selling eggs or growing mushrooms. 

I'm very sad that the project didn't achieve the target. For us, this is just a small financial loss. But for the local chicken farmers, having nothing to sell after 6 months work and investments in feeding the flock, this is a really hard blow. 

Dear Donor

I visited our local partner CDI at Battambang late November 23. This was a great opportunity to meet local chicken farmers and see how they are doing. Working in such remote areas is challenging. Even collecting simple data about breeding success can be difficult. Such a visit makes me humble every time and happy with what has been achieved up to now.  Since my last report, when breeding just started, an impressive flock has grown from the initial breeding stock. Overall figures are:

• a. Total eggs laid: 1066 eggs
• b. Total eggs hatched: 689 chicks 
• c. Total chickens died: 229 chicks/chickens (1/3)

These figures are very promising. Some chicken farmers, the lucky ones where the hens felt comfortable from the beginning, expect to start selling in January. But from the visit it became clear that not all farmers are doing well. Two families already stopped and moved to nearby Thailand in search of paid work. One farmer has only about 20 chicks whereas another family already has a flock of 100 healthy chicks running around the place. Our lcoal partner CFI is analysing the root causes for the differences. In any case, another training for the chicken farmers will be set up, and some kind of knowledge sharing between the farmers.

Sadly when back home, I learned that one family’s flock has been struck with bird flu. Overnight, they lost more than 40 chicks, half of their breeding, despite vaccination. We are currently working out how to get them restarted.