Sustainable chicken farming linkages

With the support of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Women's Union, in 2020, the Women's Union of Quang Phu commune (Tho Xuan district) established a cooperative for raising free-range chickens, run by women. After more than four years, thanks to the effective development of poultry farming, the members of the cooperative have escaped poverty, and many households have achieved a decent income.

Sustainable chicken farming linkages This is the model of raising Ri chickens by the family of Ms. Vu Thi Oanh, Head of the Women-Owned Ri Chicken Farming Cooperative in Quang Phu commune.

Ms. Le Thi Bich's family in Hamlet 4 had been a near-poor household for many years. Her family mainly raised poultry, but on a small scale, without any marketable products, resulting in low and unstable income. In 2021, she boldly joined a cooperative and received support from the Provincial Women's Union. She gained a better understanding of chicken farming techniques and the cooperative connected her with sources of chicks and feed at lower prices than the market. Ms. Bich and other members of the cooperative shared effective farming methods with each other. Confident with the knowledge she gained and the maximum support and assistance from the organization, Ms. Bich boldly expanded her farming scale year after year. Currently, her family has three chicken coops raising chickens in staggered batches. Every two months, her family sells 3.5-4 tons of chickens, equivalent to 2,000 broiler chickens. After deducting all expenses, the profit is approximately 40 million VND. In addition, her family also raises breeding chickens to reduce costs or sell them to members who need them.

Ms. Le Thi Bich said: "By participating in the cooperative, we receive a lot of support in terms of breeds and veterinary medicine. We connect with each other to the market to avoid price manipulation and take turns selling, ensuring stable output, so every household has a source of income to reinvest in their herd."

Ms. Vu Thi Oanh, Vice President of the Women's Union of Quang Phu commune and head of the cooperative group, is one of the exemplary households effectively raising hybrid chickens. Her family has 3 farms with a capacity of 4,000 chickens/2 batches/year. In addition, her family also raises pigs and grows fruit trees to rotate capital and utilize feed and fertilizer for crops and livestock.

In 2020, the Provincial Women's Union supported the Quang Phu Commune Women's Union in establishing a women-led chicken farming cooperative with 20 members, funded by the National Target Program for New Rural Development. Each member received 200 chicks and participated in a training course on poultry farming techniques. During the farming process, the cooperative has added more members, now totaling 35. All members of the cooperative have achieved effective results. Without the cooperative, members would have been buying feed and chicks individually at high costs, with each household purchasing from different sources without controlling the quality of the chicks or disease outbreaks. By joining the cooperative, members are connected to suppliers at wholesale prices, facilitated in finding markets for their products, receive strict veterinary care, vaccination support, and guidance on staggered breeding schedules, ensuring a consistent supply of chickens to the market. Currently, on average, each member of the cooperative raises three batches of chickens per year, with each batch ranging from 500 to 7,000 birds, depending on the size of each family's farm. On average, raising 1,000 free-range chickens yields a profit of approximately 20 million VND per batch. Thanks to cooperative farming, members have created marketable products, making harvesting easier and providing more stable income.

Ms. Vu Thi Oanh, head of the Quang Phu commune's free-range chicken farming cooperative, added: "Previously, everyone raised chickens on a small scale, so each household independently sold their own products. This often led to price manipulation by traders and increased risks, resulting in low economic value. Now, with the cooperative linking all inputs to outputs, the market is stable, and customers from within and outside the province come directly to us to place orders."

Maintaining and effectively operating the cooperative model for raising free-range chickens in Quang Phu commune has contributed to creating jobs for rural women, with many escaping poverty and near-poverty and achieving a decent income. Based on this model, the Tho Xuan District Women's Union has directed the replication of 20 collective economic models run by women to date.

Text and photos: Le Ha

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