Contribution of Poultry Farming to Livelihood of Rural Families in Nepal: A Case Study of Dailekh District

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the employment and income generation of small farmers through family poultry. The objectives of the study confined (1) to identify socio economic features of family poultry, (2) to examine the impact of family poultry on household improvement, to determine cost, return and profitability of family poultry, (3) to identify the problems faced by family poultry farmer and for its improvement. The data were collected from 60 family poultry farms from Naumule Rural Municipality of Dailekh district through semi-structured questionnaire interview. The result of this study showed that average gross return, total cost and net return of family poultry households were Rs.1,26,000, Rs. 73,000 and Rs. 53,000 respectively and benefit cost ratio was 1.72. Family poultry farming brought positive changes in different types of livelihood indicators as family income, family savings, employment status, food security and daily protein intake, drinking water and sanitation, and overall development. It also generated on average 92.5 working man days per year per households as employment opportunity. This study also identified some economic problems, marketing problems, technical problems, social and natural problems and their provable solutions. Household assets and health status of family poultry were also improved. Thus, family poultry has positive and significant impact for improvement of rural livelihood. However, poor management conditions and poorly developed marketing structures are problems faced by family poultry farmers. This study recommends enhancing skills of family poultry farmers through trainings and educations, provide credit or loan facility for establish of this enterprise, and should improved marketing system.