Small-Scale Poultry Farmer’s Perception on the Emerging Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic in Zambia
Keywords:
Poultry, Covid-19, Small-Scale, Farmers, Marketing System, Demand, Supply
Abstract
The covid-19 pandemic has been reported to have disrupted the food systems globally, thereby, negatively affecting production of agricultural commodities. This study was carried out to examine the emerging impact of the pandemic on small-scale poultry farmers in Lusaka Province, Zambia. Questionnaires were administered to 100 farmers in Chongwe rural area (Lusaka city sub-hub) to collect information on socio-economic characteristics, poultry production system, impact of covid-19 on poultry operations and coping mechanisms instituted. The data collected were subjected to descriptive and correlation analysis. The research findings revealed that the pandemic has a significant negative impact on the small-scale poultry farmer access to feed availability, vaccines and day old chicks. Similarly, the pandemic had a significant impact on market availability, accessibility and the purchasing power of the consumers. The research also indicated that a significant positive correlation exist between difficulties in accessing essential inputs for poultry productivity and the coping strategy that the poultry farmer adopted. The study concluded that farmers experienced a great effect of the pandemic on their poultry business due to the restriction imposed by government which caused inaccessibility of input supplies and market for the sales of birds. While the government provided financial incentives to some industrial and commercial entities, most small-scale farmers in this study did not benefit from the scheme. This shows that the government is more focused on industrial entities rather than small-scale farmers and producers. The study suggested mitigating strategies such as facilitating access to production inputs, market linkages and financial assistance (soft loans, grants, relief etc.) for small-scale poultry producers to build a resilient poultry system and cope with the emerging challenges covid-19 imposed on the poultry industry are recommended.References
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31. Akanni, I.A. (2007). Effect of micro-Finance on Small Scale Poultry business in South Western Nigeria. Emirate Journal of Food and Agriculture, 19(2), 38-47.
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36. Nhemachena C, and Murwisi K. (2020). A rapid analysis of impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on selected food value chains in Africa. Nairobi, Kenya. Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
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2. FAO (2021). Impacts of covid-19 on Food Security and Nutrition: Developing Effective Policy Responses to Address the Hunger and Malnutrition Pandemic. 2021. Available online:http://www.fao.org/agroecology/database/detail/en/c/1310872/ (accessed on 9 November 2021).
3. Hobbs EC, Colling A, Gurung RB, and Allen J. (2020). The potential of diagnostic point-of-care tests (POCTs) for infectious and zoonotic animal diseases in developing countries: Technical, regulatory and sociocultural considerations. Transbound.Emerg.Dis. [CrossRef].
4. Hafez HM, and Attia YA. (2020). Challenges to the poultry industry: Current perspectives and strategic future after the covid-19 outbreak. Front. Vet. Sci, 7, 516. [CrossRef].
5. Béné C. (2020). Resilience of local food systems and links to food security—A review of some important concepts in the context of covid-19 and other shocks. Food Security, 12, 1–18. [CrossRef].
6. Deeh PBD, Kayri V, Orhan C, and Sahin K. (2020). Status of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and animal production. Front. Vet. Sci, 7, 586919. [CrossRef].
7. Mottet A, and Tempio G. (2017). Global poultry production: Current state and future outlook and challenges. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 73(2), 245-256. doi:10.1017/S0043933917000071.
8. Government of Zambia. (2015). 2016 Budget Address by Hon. Alexander B. Chikwanda M.P., Minister of Finance. Delivered to the National Assembly on October 9, 2015.
9. Kabir MT, Uddin MS, Hossain, MF, Abdulhakim JA, Alam MA, Ashraf GM, Bungau SG, Bin-Jumah MN, Abdel- Daim MM, and Aleya L. (2020). Covid-19 pandemic: from molecular pathogenesis to potential investigational therapeutics. Front. Cell Dev. Biol, 8, 616. [CrossRef] [PubMed].
10. Hashem NM, González-Bulnes A,and Rodriguez-Morales AJ. (2020). Animal welfare and livestock supply chain sustainability under the Covid-19 outbreak: An overview. Front. Vet. Sci, 7, 679. [CrossRef] [PubMed].
11. Hussain S, Hussain A, Ho J, Sparagano OA, and Zia UR. (2020). Economic and social impacts of covid-19 on animal welfare and dairy husbandry in central Punjab, Pakistan. Front. Vet. Sci, 7, 589971. [CrossRef].
12. WFP. (2020). Impact of covid-19 Outbreak on Livelihoods, Food Security and Nutrition in East Africa. 2020. Available online:https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/ impact-covid-19-outbreak-livelihoods-food-security-and-nutrition-east-africa-release-20 (accessed on 20 December 2021).
13. Akinola Letorn and Essien A. (2011). Relevance of rural poultry production in developing countries with special reference to Africa. World’s Poultry Science Journal. 67. 697-705. 10.1017/S0043933911000778.
14. Uddin MN, Alam B, Islam SS, Arif M, Alam MM, and Kabir SL. (2020). Impact of covid-19 on food safety and security in low and middle income countries. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res, 6, 130–137. [CrossRef].
15. Das PK, and Samanta I. (2021). Role of backyard poultry in south-east Asian countries: Post covid-19 perspective. World Poultry. Science Journal, 1–12. [CrossRef].
16. Hatab AA, Lagerkvist CJ, and Esmat A. (2021). Risk perception and determinants in small-and medium-sized agri-food enterprises amidst the covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from Egypt. Agribusiness, 37, 187–212. [CrossRef].
17. Hossain ST. (2018). Impacts of covid-19 on the agri-food sector: Food security policies of Asian productivity organization members. 2018. Available online: http://repo.lib.sab.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/1077 (accessed on 9 November 2021).
18. Kansiime MK, Tambo JA, Mugambi I, Bundi M, Kara A, and Owuor C. (2021). Covid-19 implications on household income and food security in Kenya and Uganda: Findings from a rapid assessment. World Development, 137, 105199. [CrossRef] [PubMed].
19. Biswal J, Vijayalakshmy K, and Rahman H. (2020). Impact of covid-19 and associated lockdown on livestock and poultry sectors in India. Veterinary World, 13, 1928. [CrossRef] [PubMed].
20. FAO. (2008). Poultry in the 21st Century: Avian Influenza and Beyond. In Proceedings of the International Poultry Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 5–7 November 2007; Thieme, O., Pilling, D., Eds.; Animal Production and Health Proceedings No. 9. FAO: Rome,Italy, 2008. Available online: http://www.fao.org/3/i0323e/i0323e00.htm.
21. Bamidele, Oladeji, and Tunde A, Amole. (2021). ‘Impact of Covid-19 on Smallholder Poultry Farmers in Nigeria’ Sustainability 13, no. 20: 11475. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011475.
22. Inonge Milupi D, et.al. (2020). ‘Women and Natural Resource Conservation: A Study of Chongwe District, Zambia’ International Journal of Humanities Social Sciencesand Education (IJHSSE), 7(3), pp. 22-30. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349-0381.0703004.
23. Lyaya EC, Chirikure S, Janney PE, and Rehren T. (2020). A Technology of Multiple Smelting Furnaces per Termite Mound: Iron Production in Chongwe, Lusaka, Zambia, Journal of African Archaeology, 18(1), 67-85. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/21915784-20200004.
24. Ngongolo K, Omary K, Andrew C. (2021). Social-economic impact of chicken production on resource-constrained communities in Dodoma, Tanzania, Poultry Science, Volume 100, Issue 3, 2021, 100921, ISSN 0032-5791, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2020.12.019.
25. Mulema J, Mugambi I, Kansiime M, Chan TM, Chimalizeni M, Thi XP, and Oduor G. (2021). Barriers and opportunities for the youth engagement in agribusiness: empirical evidence from Zambia and Vietnam, Development in Practice, 31:5, 690-706, DOI: 1080/09614524.2021.1911949.
26. Queenan K, Alders R, Maulaga W, Lumbwe H, Rukambile E, Zulu E, Bagnol B, Rushton J. (2016). An appraisal of the indigenous chicken market in Tanzania and Zambia. Are the markets ready for improved outputs from village production systems? Liv. Res. Rur. Dev., 185 (2016), pp. 1-10.
27. Demographic Health Survey Summary Report (2018). Lusaka, Zambia: Zambia Statistics Agency, MOH, and ICF.
28. Sudha BK, and Teresa P. (2017). Zambia Jobs in Value Chains: Opportunities in Agribusiness. World Bank, Washington, DC. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO.
29. Guèye EF. (2002). Employment and income generation through family poultry in low-income food-deficit countries. Worlds Poultry Science Journal - WORLD POULTRY SCI J. 58. 541-557. 10.1079/WPS20020039.
30. Gunya B, Muchenje V, Gxasheka M, Tyasi LT, Masika PJ. (2020). Management practices and contribution of village chickens to livelihoods of communal farmers: The case of Centane and Mount Frere in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Biodiversitas 2020, 21, 1345–1351.
31. Akanni, I.A. (2007). Effect of micro-Finance on Small Scale Poultry business in South Western Nigeria. Emirate Journal of Food and Agriculture, 19(2), 38-47.
32. Adesina OS, and Loboguerrero AM. (2020). Enhancing Food Security through Climate- Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Policy in Nigeria. In: Leal Filho, W., et al., eds. Handbook of Climate Change Management: Research, Leadership, and Transformation. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp.1-17.
33. Chrispin M, and Munguzwe H. (2021). A Multi-Phase Assessment of the Effects of Covid-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Zambia. APRA Covid-19 Country Report, June 2021.
34. Maples JG, Thompson JM, Anderson JD. and Anderson DP. (2020). Estimating Covid ‐19 Impacts on the Broiler Industry. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(1), 315–328. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13089.
35. Hatab A, Krautscheid L, Boqvist S. (2021). Covid-19, Livestock systems and food security in developing countries: A systematic review of an emerging literature. Pathogens 2021, 10, 586.https://doi.org/10.3390/ pathogens10050586.
36. Nhemachena C, and Murwisi K. (2020). A rapid analysis of impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on selected food value chains in Africa. Nairobi, Kenya. Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
37. Samboko P, Zulu O, and Chapoto A. (2018). Analysis of the animal feed to poultry value chain in Zambia. Development Southern Africa.1-18.1080/0376835X. 2018.1480932.
38. Matenga C, and Hichaambwa M. (2021). A Multi-Phase assessment of the effects of Covid-19 on food systems and rural livelihoods in Zambia.
39. Bordi D, Knowles M, and Sitko N. (2021). Assessing the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of rural people: A review of the evidence
Published
2022-07-06
How to Cite
1.
John A, Odubote K, Richenhagen M. Small-Scale Poultry Farmer’s Perception on the Emerging Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic in Zambia. Journal of Agricultural and Biomedical Sciences [Internet]. 6Jul.2022 [cited 14Jul.2025];5(4). Available from: https://journals.unza.zm/index.php/JABS/article/view/744
Section
Agriculture Sciences
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