This campaign has now closed
The effects of Covid-19 and Cyclone Amphan that hit West Bengal in May have been devastating for our poultry farmers. They have lost most forms of livelihood due to the severe lock-down or the cyclone. Our farmers are desperate to get their poultry enterprises going again for some form of income.
Categories
Beneficiaries
Situation
In rural West Bengal the burden of poverty often falls hardest on women and their children. Women may be excluded from opportunities to earn money due to cultural prejudices, poor education and lack of job prospects and so have little say in household spending decisions. Shivia's poultry programme is aimed at women as it allows them to work from home and earn money whilst also caring for the family. Due to Covid-19, migrant labourers have returned home and the women are now the bread-winners.
Solution
Shivia has been running our poultry programme since 2011 and we help families - especially women - earn an income from raising chickens. We provide the tools and training - the ‘toolkit’- for disadvantaged families to start a small enterprise from home and sell the chicken or eggs.The toolkit comprises ten one-day old chicks, vaccines, medications, 2kgs of chick feed and most importantly one-to-one training for farmers until they form groups and are independent of us, usually after two years.
