There is a significant market for local poultry in Burkina Faso, and it is growing. It is estimated that demand for local chickens will increase by 1,400 tons per year over the next 10 years. Yet, smallholder poultry farms are not equipped to respond to this demand, and the local poultry value chain does not deliver the services to jumpstart this market. The country also struggles with high malnutrition and frequent illness among children, while women, the primary caregivers, are constrained by social and economic norms that limit their access to resources and income opportunities.
Market Solution
Soutenir l’Exploitation Famaliales pour Lancer l’Elevage des Volailles et Valoriser l’Economie Rurale (SELEVER 2) is a six-year Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded program designed to improve the nutritional status of women and children in rural Burkina Faso by strengthening women’s economic empowerment through increased poultry production. Estimated to reach 120,000 project participants, SELEVER 2 will holistically leverage the entire poultry sector in Burkina Faso – including government entities and the private sector – to increase incomes for women, support women’s inclusion in the poultry sector, and improve community access to nutritious and diverse foods. Women in the SELEVER II program will be engaged as poultry producers, entrepreneurs, and private-sector actors in the input market – specifically as providers of vaccines and feed through small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). SELEVER II will also work to facilitate SME access to financing and business skills needed to grow and sustain businesses.
SELEVER 2 also works at the community level to raise awareness and change social norms about entrepreneurship opportunities for women throughout the poultry value chain. We target activities toward women, while also engaging men, to improve women’s positions in the household and ownership over income from poultry. SELEVER II will demonstrate that when women are empowered, they can obtain a sufficient quality and quantity of diverse foods for their households and improve nutritional outcomes.
SELEVER 2 is built off the successful phase 1 of the project, which from 2015 through 2020 worked with over 51,000 poultry producers in Burkina Faso to encourage women to adopt poultry farming, sensitize men to the importance of women’s economic empowerment, educate communities on how to prevent common avian illnesses, train vaccinators to mitigate risks from avian illnesses, and support the adoption of diverse and healthy diets through income generation and education. The project helped bring about a 30% increase in the number of women participating in the poultry value chain in SELEVER-participating villages, and a 20% increase in women participating in household financial decisions.
Market Impact
- Reach 120,000 projects participants, equipping them to decrease poultry mortality and leverage the poultry sector to improve women’s social and economic conditions in Burkina Faso
- Increase poultry producers’ access to poultry value chain services, including finance
- Strengthen value chain actors, such as MFIs and village vaccinators, to provide services to poultry producers
- Increase women and children’s dietary diversity
- Increase women’s empowerment and participation in the local poultry value chain
Resources
- SELEVER Fact Sheet (English, 8.5 x 11 inches)
- SELEVER Fact Sheet (English, A4)
- SELEVER Fact Sheet (French, A4)
- SELEVER Impact Fund Fact Sheet (English, 8.5 x 11 inches)
- SELEVER Impact Fund Fact Sheet (English, A4)
- SELEVER Impact Fund Fact Sheet (French, A4)