Browsing by Author "Andrew, Rogers"

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    Economic viability of newly introduced chicken strains at village level in Tanzania: FARMSIM model simulation approach
    (ELSEVIER, 2019) Makindara, Jeremia; Andrew, Rogers; Mbaga, Said H; Alphonce, Roselyne
    A local chicken farming is an integral part of Tanzania's rural economy. However, despite its contributions to household economy and food security, local chicken productivity remains low because of low genetic potential, diseases and poor feeding. One of the options to increase local chicken productivity is the adoption of the chicken strains with high genetic potential. With that respect, Africa Genetic Gain project introduced Sasso and Kuroiler chicken strains for on-farm test purposes. Developmental design involved provision of 25 six weeks old chicks to 20 farmers in 12 sites making a total of 240 farmers in three regions. The study was carried out in Dodoma, Morogoro and Njombe regions to assess the effects of agro-ecological differences in the performance of these strains. The chicks were vaccinated against Mareks and Newcastle diseases at the hatchery; then against Infectious Bronchitis (IB) at 0, 7 10, 16 and 21 days. The Newcastle Disease vaccine was repeated after 10 and 21 days using LaSota vaccine. After 6 weeks, the chicks were again vaccinated against fowl pox ready for supply to farmers. A farm Simulation Model (FARMSIM) and Stochastic Efficiency with Respect to Function (SERF) were applied to access economic viability of these strains relative to local chickens. FARMSIM is a Monte Carlo Simulation Model that simultaneously evaluates a baseline and an alternative farming technology. To simulate using FARMSIM, Simulation and Econometrics to Analyse Risk (Simetar©), an excel add-in is needed as a simulating engine. Data were obtained through survey, farmers' records and simulation exercises. The results indicate that keeping Sasso strain was the most economically viable with the highest Net Present Value, Net Cash Farm Income and the highest probability of attaining economic return. Kuroiler was the second, followed by keeping local chickens without supplement and local chicken with supplement was the least economically viable enterprise. However, inclusion of risk behaviour revealed that extremely risk-averse farmers preferred mostly keeping local chickens without supplement whereas extremely risk loving farmers preferred the most Sasso strain. It is recommended that the introduced chicken strains should be promoted to increase household income and improve people's livelihoods. However, scaling up of the introduced chicken strains must be integrated with education on technical know-how for good farming practices, feed formulations, medication and shelter for improved productivity and reduced variability.
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    Ex-Ante analysis of adoption of introduced chicken strains among smallholder farmers in selected areas of Tanzania
    (Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2019-04) Andrew, Rogers; Makindara, Jeremia; Mbaga, Said H; Alphonce, Roselyne;
    Keeping local chickens is an integral part of Tanzania’s rural economy although it suffers low genetic potential. To address the problem, the Africa Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) project introduced and tested improved strains of chicken viz. Sasso and Kuroiler in Tanzania, The paper aimed to predict the rate of adoption of Sasso and Kuroiler chicken strains by using the Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool (ADOPT). Developmental research design involving provision of 25 six weeks old chicks to farmers was adopted. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey and Focus Group Discussion in three regions of Tanzania. The results indicate that the peak for adoption is likely to be 34, 29 and 38% after 8, 7 and 9 years in Bahi, Ifakara and Wanging’ombe sites respectively. The sensitivity report indicates that the adoption rate may increase to reach 59, 49 and 57% and may decline to about 17, 16 and 21% in Bahi, Ifakara and Wanging’ombe respectively. Extension efforts to facilitate availability of the strains, feeds, treatment and reducing upfront and operating costs are main factors affecting change in the adoption rate to optimize the inherent genetic potential. It is recommended to facilitate extension efforts for adoption rate improvement by upgrading local chicken value chain to enable farmers to access the strains, feeds, medication and market.