Sustainable chicken farming link

With the support of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Women's Union, in 2020, the Women's Union of Quang Phu Commune (Tho Xuan) established a Cooperative Group (THT) for raising chickens led by women. After more than 4 years, thanks to effective livestock development, the members of the THT have escaped poverty, many households have a good income.

Sustainable chicken farming link The model of raising chickens of Ms. Vu Thi Oanh's family, Head of the Women-led Chicken Raising Group in Quang Phu commune.

Ms. Le Thi Bich's family in village 4 has been a near-poor household for many years. Her family mainly raises poultry but on a small scale, without any commercial products, so the income is low and unstable. In 2021, she boldly joined the Cooperative and was supported by the Provincial Women's Union. She has a better understanding of chicken farming techniques and was connected by the Cooperative, providing chicken breeds and feed at a cheaper price than the market. Ms. Bich and her sisters in the group share with each other effective ways of raising chickens... Confident with the knowledge learned and the maximum support and facilitation of the association, Ms. Bich has boldly expanded the scale of raising chickens over the years. Up to now, her family has 3 mixed-cage farms. About 2 months, her family sells 3.5 - 4 tons of chicken, equivalent to 2,000 broilers, after deducting all expenses, the profit is about 40 million VND. In addition, her family also raises breeding chickens to reduce costs or sell to members in need.

Ms. Le Thi Bich said: "By joining the cooperative, we receive a lot of support in terms of breeds and veterinary medicines. We connect with the market to avoid being forced to lower prices and take turns selling, ensuring stable output, and every household has a source of income to reinvest in the herd."

Ms. Vu Thi Oanh, Vice President of the Women's Union of Quang Phu Commune, Head of the Group, is one of the typical households that effectively raises hybrid chickens. Her family has 3 farms with a scale of 4,000 chickens/2 batches/year. In addition, her family also raises pigs and grows fruit trees to rotate capital and take advantage of food and fertilizer sources for crops and livestock.

In 2020, the Provincial Women's Union supported the Women's Union of Quang Phu commune to establish a female-owned chicken breeding cooperative with 20 members from the budget for implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Development. Each member was supported with 200 chickens and participated in a training course on breeding techniques. During the breeding process, the cooperative recruited more members, now increasing to 35 members. All cooperative members are effective in breeding. Without the cooperative, instead of buying feed and small-scale breeding animals at high prices, each household buys from different places, unable to control the quality of breeding animals and diseases. When participating in the cooperative, members are connected to suppliers at the source price, find outlets for products, strictly implement veterinary work, support vaccination, guide the breeding schedule, ensure there are always chickens to supply to the market. Currently, on average, each member of the Cooperative raises 3 batches of chickens a year, each batch from 500 to 7,000 chickens, depending on the size of each family's farm. On average, raising 1,000 chickens will bring a profit of about 20 million VND/batch. Thanks to Cooperative farming, members have created commodity products, making harvesting easier and earning a more stable income.

Ms. Vu Thi Oanh, Head of the Quang Phu Commune Chicken Breeding Group, added: "Previously, we raised chickens on a small scale, so each household actively consumed their products. Therefore, we were often forced to lower prices by small traders, and there were risks, so the economic value was not high. Now, we have linked up from input to output, so the consumption market is stable, and customers inside and outside the province come to us to place orders."

The maintenance and effective operation of the chicken farming model in the form of cooperatives in Quang Phu commune has contributed to creating jobs for rural women, many of whom have escaped poverty, near-poverty and have a good income. From this model, the Women's Union of Tho Xuan district has directed the replication of 20 collective economic models led by women.

Article and photos: Le Ha

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