Economic contribution of tropically adapted and more productive breeds based village chicken production in sub-Saharan Africa: ACGG model

Economic contributions of interventions that aims to improve village chicken production through dual-purpose improved breeds-based production system was estimated using recently conducted production and marketing surveys in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania. The data were collected from sample of village chicken producers and mother unit farms in three poultry products market sheds in each country. Economic gains of improved village chicken production system and mother unit farms were estimated using different approaches including partial budget analysis, gross margin analysis, and other estimations techniques. Results of the partial budget analysis show that shifting extensive scavenging production system to dual- purpose improved breeds based semi-intensive production system generates significant gain in income up to 1639 USD/production cycle. Estimated Marginal Rate of Return also shows that, on average, a unit of added capital invested on dual-purpose breed based semi-intensive production system would generate about 3.84 (384%) marginal rate of return. Similarly, average annual return from mother unit farms seems positive and noteworthy. The estimated average annual net farm income is about 2842, 3005, and 1919 USD in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania, respectively. On average mother unit farms generate about 26.0, 34.8 and 31.1% gross margin in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, respectively. The overall findings of this economic analysis suggest that integrating dual- purpose improved breeds in village chicken production system would have significant contribution to improve income of producers, enhance supply of eggs and live chicken, and generate employment opportunities for the rural youth and other marketing actors along the value chain.