Socio-economic Situation of Poultry Farmer and the Local Chicken Production System of the East-Coast of Madagascar

Traditional family poultry farming is the most dominant in Madagascar, with 95% of farmers raising mostly local breed chickens. The objective of this study is to characterize the socio-economic aspect and the local poultry production system on the east coast of the large island. All 316 smallholder farmers with plus one adult chicken heads in the district of Fenerive-Est were included. Simple economic calculations were also made to assess the profitability of the poultry farm. The main results found that local chicken farming is an activity under the responsibility of men with an average age of 41.95±10.84 years old. Most of these smallholder farmers are limited to the education level at secondary school (35%) and primary school (34%) level. On average, a household owns 22,89±23,14 heads of local chickens. Livestock products are intended for sale (74 to 76% male and 37 to 40% female), self-consumption (3 to 5% male and 2% female) and socio-cultural events (12% male and 2 to 4% female). The losses due to diseases (more than 60%), theft (23%) and financing (12.3%) were the main problems in chicken production system. However, traditional poultry production is beneficial to smallholder farmers with 62.85% profit margin. Adequate research and a contribution from the State in this sector are essential to improve the living conditions of the farmers on the east coast of Madagascar.