Somaliland Local Poultry Value Chain

Abstract
Poultry production has important economic, social and cultural benefits and plays a significant role in family nutrition in developing countries. In most tropical countries it is based mainly on scavenging production systems, which makes substantial contributions to household food security throughout the developing world. All over the developing world, these low-input and low-output poultry-husbandry systems are an integral component of the livelihoods of most rural, peri-urban, and some urban households and are likely to continue to meet this role for the foreseeable future. Although the contributions of chicken farming to household food security and income as well as its potential contribution to the income of rural communities are known, chicken production is practiced very little in Somaliland. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to carry out a baseline study on the potential of chicken production (eggs and meats) in Somaliland and its existing chain gaps in order to identify whether chicken production could be a successful income source for women and boost female economic activity in the project areas of Saaxil, MaroodiJeex and Togdheer. The result from this assessment showed that rural chicken production was a women-related activity that helped them to be the sole decision-makers and also users of the benefits regarding chicken and chicken products. The main purposes for keeping chicken were egg production for income generating, home consumption and meat provision. The major constraints for rural poultry keeping were the lack of extension and veterinary services, predators, poor housing, poor breeds, and lack of financial services among others. Women in all the selected villages made remarkable contributions to the local chicken production system. The result of the assessments showed that indigenous poultry value chain consisted of producers, collectors/retaileres, shops and consumers/restaurents. However, the absence of processors along the chain means that chickens are sold live and consequently
cannot be retailed through formal channels like supermarkets leading to the exclusion of potential customers in the middle and high income categories who normally shop from supermarkets. Furthermore, as population and incomes grow, demand for indigenous chicken is likely to continue growing, especially among the high income groups who not only prefer it for its taste but also for health reasons due to its low fat content. Finally, although the value chain for indigenous chickens shows potential growth for all the players along the chain, there is a need to address the various constraints affecting the value chain for indigenous chickens in order to improve the operation of the chain hence leading to increased incomes for the value chain actors and at the same time ensuring cheap delivery of indigenous chicken in a more convenient form and in formal outlets.

1. Introduction
Livestock is the backbone of Somaliland’s economy and provides livelihoods to a considerable proportion of the local population. Livestock production contributes 60% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 85% of export earnings. Somaliland’s main exports are sheep, goats, camel and cattle to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), through the port of Berbera.
Poultry production has important economic, social and cultural benefits and plays a significant role in family nutrition in developing countries. The proportional contribution of poultry to the total animal protein production of the world by the year 2020 is believed to increase to 40%, the major increase being in the developing world. It has been estimated that 80% of the poultry population in Africa is found in traditional scavenging systems [3]. In most tropical countries it is based mainly on scavenging production systems, which makes substantial contributions to household food security throughout the developing world. Indigenous breeds still contribute meaningfully to poultry meat and egg production and consumption in developing countries, where they make up to 90% of the total poultry population. All over the developing world, these low-input and low-output poultry-husbandry systems are an integral component of the livelihoods of most rural, peri-urban, and some urban households and are likely to continue to meet this role for the foreseeable future.
The poultry sector can be characterized into three major production systems based on some selected parameters such as breed, flock size, housing, feed, health, technology, and bio-security. These are large commercial, small-scale commercial and village or backyard poultry production systems. These production systems have their own specific chicken breeds, inputs and production properties. Each can sustainably coexist and contribute to solving the socio-economic problems of different target societies.
The third Somaliland programmatic National Development Plan (NDP III)
recognizes the contribution of camels, cattle, sheep, goats, poultry and fisheries to livelihoods, food security, employment and the economy of the country. Chicken meat and eggs are a relatively cheap and affordable source of protein for most consumers compared to other animal products such as meat from cattle, camel, goat and sheep. Moreover, rural households often cannot afford to slaughter a sheep or goat as the prices are usually more than 60 USD per head, whereas chicken costs less than 10 USD per head. Chickens are the only affordable species to be slaughtered by resource-poor farmers for home consumption, as the prices of other species are high, and have increased substantially in recent years. Consumption of chicken products such as meat and eggs became more common in urban than in rural areas.
Most chickens in “Somaliland” are managed by women in smallholder farms but during the last years a couple of medium commercial farms were established around the large cities to provide the cities meat and eggs for affordable prices. Chicken are important sources of eggs and meat in the villages and chicken products are among the few agricultural products directly accessible to women in rural areas and hence increased food production from chickens will improve household food security. Although the contributions of chicken farming to household food security and income as well as its potential contribution to the income of rural communities is known, chicken production is practiced very little in Somaliland.

3.4. Poultry Production and Reasons for Poultry Production
Although village chicken production is a viable and promising alternative source of income for rural households its contribution to the household cash income is generally difficult to assess.
The results from this study showed (Figure 3) that the sale of eggs for cash income is the first important function of rearing chicken which accounts for 91% of the interviewed farmers. Following egg production importance is home consumption (77%) and keeping chicken for meat accounts for 14.7% while
selling live chicken was the least reason for poultry production (12.1%) in the study areas.
Cash income and food purposes were the primary goals of indigenous chicken keeping and this indicates the important role village chicken production plays in supporting food security and financial contribution to the household needs.
3.5. Chicken Breed Kept by Rural Farmers
The study revealed that 99% of households (Figure 4) across the study areas regions rear indigenous domestic fowl (Gallus domestic) which is the dominant species in Africa (FAO, 1998) that is used in extensive production systems which could be described as the most suitable low input-low output system. Village poultry and domestic poultry production in all surveyed households
were dominated by traditional production practices, and indigenous breeds represent 99% of the poultry flock (Figure 4). None of the sampled households had exotic breeds. The exotic breeds are only kept under modern intensive poultry farms in the urban centres of Somaliland like Burao and Hargeisa and belong to business people who want to target the high demand for poultry production in the market.
Due to their tropical adaptability, disease resistance, minimal care and less input requirements indigenous chicken breeds are dominantly common in rural areas in Somaliland; however, have low productivity compared to the exotic breeds that are mainly in the hands of the commercial farms in the major urban centres in Somaliland.
Indigenous chickens were also housed in traditionally built houses made of local materials such as stone, wood, old tires and iron sheets. These houses were constructed with very small sizes and short roofs and were closed with either a door made up of local materials or with flat stones at night. All groups of poultry were housed together in the same room during the night while there were separate shades for the pullets during the day. From the focus group discussion and personal observations, poultry was housed at night in the prepared house but allowed scavenging during the daytime in the scavenging production system. In addition to that, in a few households, poultry was over-crowded and exposed to pests and predators under the traditional production systems.
3.7. Egg Production and Storage
This study found that plastic container is the main storage facility for eggs (82%) as shown in Figure 6 followed by Baskets (12%) for egg storage while cartoons, refrigerators and plastic bags contribute almost 5% for egg storage combined. This is due to the availability of plastic containers in all villages that made it the most feasible item for storing eggs, refrigerators could be the most ideal way of egg storing but due to the absence or difficulty of electricity in villages, they are rare to use.
The study indicated that the period from April to July (summer) was when egg production was at the peak while egg production from November to January (winter) was the least. According to farmers’ responses, the main reason for this variation might be due to the susceptibility of chickens to the cold climate in winter while the warmness of the summer favors the chicken. Moreover, the availability of feed resources like grasses and worms in the summer which is always after the main rainy season of the year (Gu’) may contribute to the increased egg production in the summer.
Decision Making on Chicken Produce
Women play a major role in contributing to all households’ chickens’ activities including decision-making on chicken-related issues throughout the studied areas. This fact could be explained with regard to the traditions of job projects in rural societies of Somaliland, where men usually devote themselves to hard tasks such as camel keeping, agriculture, building houses and other community reconciliation affairs; leaving women to take many responsibilities towards chickens keeping activities. Due to this fact women control mostly the decisions regarding chicken and chicken products making 93.6% of those decisions while men and children contribute less than 7% regarding decision-making of chicken and chicken products.
Village Poultry Marketing
Purchasing Cooking Selling to customers
Consumers Purchasing Cooking Consumption
Marketing is the interaction between different traders and producers in the
market. Poultry and eggs were marketed by market actors such as producers, and collectors in the study area. All poultry producers found in the study area were a participant in the poultry supply to the nearby main town like Burao. However, only 25% supplied chicken and eggs to the market outside their villages and regional markets. Most of the farmers sell their eggs or chicken directly to consumers or collectors/traders. Eggs are sold daily depending on the availability of eggs to consumers or intermittently to collectors who come to the village. Chicken on the other hand is sold mainly depending on the demand for example when there is increased demand from consumers in the urban centres, they come to villages to buy chicken. In addition to that, once in a while, there are Islamic missionaries from Pakistan and Indian who visit the villages and they specifically buy live chicken from the respective villages where they had their mission. Furthermore, at other times women poultry producers transport eggs and chicken to the main towns like Sheikh, Burao and Hargeisa using public trans
port.
The poultry marketing system found in the study area was not organized and traditionally implemented. Poultry products are often sold at the farm gate or taken to the nearest market using traditional materials such as baskets, cartoons and plastic bags. Sometimes village poultry producers who are mainly women sell their products to collectors who are always women from other villages or main urban centres, however, this is not regular and the relationship between producers and collectors happens partially through spot market relationships.

Poultry Marketing Functions and Actors
1) Producers
These are the first actors in the village’s small-scale poultry value chain and participants in the poultry market. These are farmers who participated in reproducing and managing chicken for different purposes such as for cash and household consumption. Poultry producers sell their products to different market actors such as village consumers, collectors, retailers such as shops in the villages or the nearby towns and consumers.
2) Collectors
Collectors play a great role in village poultry marketing. The function of these actors was to collect chickens and eggs from villages and deliver them to towns like Hargeisa, Burao and Sheikh. They either consume eggs and chicken or sell to different shops, restaurants and consumers in their town or neighborhood.
3) Retailers
Retailers in the chicken and egg marketing chain are those actors who perform the last marketing function by connecting consumers with producers. In the village poultry production system, there are mainly small shops and kiosks in the villages or shops in the urban centres that either buy the eggs from the producers or exchange egg with products such as food. The number of these retailers varies according to the town, demand and supply conditions.
4) Consumers:
Consumers including restaurants are the final end points and are the ultimate goal of the production and marketing process. Consumer demand is the key to producing and trading chickens and eggs. Poultry consumption is common among the visited sites in the study area. Consumers get the poultry product through different channels based on their location and preference.
Prices of Chicken and Eggs
The price of eggs in the study area varied within the different channels. The maximum and minimum selling prices of eggs at the farm gate were 1500 SH and 1000 SH respectively with an equivalent to 0.17 USD. Nevertheless, the price is higher when eggs are taken to the next actor of the value chain which is either retailers or shops and is sold a minimum of equivalent to 0.23 USD. The price of live chicken in the study area also varied with the type of chicken, the price of cocks ranged from 9 to 15 USD with an average of 12 USD while hens are not usually sold.

Conclusion and Recommendation
The extensive production system was the only chicken-raising system adopted by households in the rural areas of Somaliland and it is considered a part-time activity with no farmers that keep indigenous poultry on a commercial basis except urban-based farms that keep exotic breeds. Rural chicken production was a women-related activity that helps them to be the sole decision-makers and also users of the benefits regarding chicken and chicken products. The main purposes for keeping chicken were egg production for income generating, home consumption and meat provision. The major constraints for rural poultry keeping were the lack of extension and veterinary services, predators, poor housing, poor breeds, and lack of financial services among others. Women in all the selected villages made remarkable contributions to the local chicken production system. The indigenous poultry value chains were found to consist of producers, collectors/retailers, shops and consumers/restaurants. However, the absence of processors along the chain means that chickens are sold live and consequently cannot be retailed through formal channels like supermarkets leading to the exclusion of potential customers in the middle and high income categories who normally shop from supermarkets. Furthermore, as population and incomes grow, demand for indigenous chicken is likely to continue growing, especially among the high income groups who not only prefer it for its taste but also for health reasons due to its low fat content. Finally, although the value chain for indigenous chickens shows potential growth for all the players along the chain, there is a need to address the various constraints affecting the value chain for indigenous chickens in order to improve the operation of the chain hence leading to increased incomes for the value chain actors and at the same time ensuring cheap delivery of indigenous chicken in a more convenient form and in formal outlets.