Women-led chicken seed dissemination – Ethiopia & Tanzania

Duration: April 1, 2019 – March 31, 2022

Project information

Full title: Women in business: chicken seed dissemination in Ethiopia and Tanzania

Objective: This project aims to develop, promote and test women-led chicken businesses in Ethiopia and Tanzania with the goal of promoting the economic empowerment of young women, and also of improving the food and nutrition security of their households.

Abstract: Locally-relevant and high yielding chicken breeds can enhance the income, nutrition and food security of small-holder households in rural areas. The African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) project is identifying such breeds in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Because rural women are generally more involved in chickens than men, ACGG developed locally-relevant and high yielding chicken breeds mostly by involving women farmers to ensure that these new breeds respond to their needs. Now that these new breeds are available, they need to reach women from the most remote areas. This proposed project aims to develop, promote and test women-led chicken businesses in Ethiopia and Tanzania with the goal of promoting the economic empowerment of young women, and also of improving the food and nutrition security of their households.

The intervention builds on the work of existing private partners in each country – who multiply ACGG genetic material and disseminate day old chicks (DOCs) – to reach customers (small-holder women in remote areas) who they may otherwise be unable to serve through their usual channels. It also leverages ACGG’s Gender Strategy goals to enhance gender equity in access to technologies, skills and services, to progress towards women’s empowerment and to provide evidence on gender dynamics in the value chain (ACGG Gender Strategy, 2017).

This project will show whether and how a private sector intervention can be combined with small-scale and women-led businesses to enhance access to improved chickens in remote areas. It will also show how such an approach may provide opportunities for the economic empowerment of local women. In particular, the project will focus on gender-responsive approaches that ensure women, and young women in particular, keep control of the income generated through the new business. Finally, the study explores how the economic empowerment of women relates to the nutritional status of their household members.

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This project received funds in the Call on “Seed Systems Development (SSD): Enabling and Scaling Genetic Improvement and Propagation Materials” which was released by NWO-WOTRO within the framework of the Netherlands-CGIAR research partnership. The nine awarded project consortia consist of Dutch research institutes, CGIAR Research Programs or platforms, and (Dutch or local) partners from the public and private sector.