A new project, dubbed “Hatching Hope,” aims to improve the livelihoods of 100 million people, focusing on women farmers, in the coming decade through chicken farming, which is seen as a quick way to produce food at home and for sale in town. Pierre Ferrari, head of the hunger-fighting charity Heifer International, said “the power of poultry” would boost family income and nutrition.
Ferrari and Chuck Warta, a Cargill official, announced the initiative on Thursday at a food security conference held by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “If we do this right,” said Warta, “we will shift these people … to part of the solution of how we will feed the world successfully.”
The world population is forecast to reach 9.8 billion people by 2050, a 27-percent increase from the current 7.7 billion. Vastly more food will be required to feed them. There are currently about 800 million smallholder farmers worldwide, many of them living at subsistence levels.
“Lots and lots” of chickens would improve the welfare of smallholders in addition to providing meat and eggs for sale, said Ferrari. “There’s no doubt the market is growing. Not only is it growing, it’s profitable.” Poultry has the advantage of a short production cycle, and by having women take the lead in poultry farming, the initiative can promote gender equality, said Warta. Women’s stature in the family and community grows as they become successful producers.
India, Kenya, and Mexico are the launching sites for the initiative. In some instances, farmers will be given birds as the foundation for flocks; in others, there will be assistance setting up hatcheries to produce chicks locally to expand flocks. The goal is self-sustaining production and a reliable local market. Hatching Hope will include education about poultry farming and promoting poultry consumption. Among the additional effects would be demand for feed and veterinary care along with jobs to transport poultry to more distant markets.
Water scarcity was the theme of the Chicago Council conference, which focused on assuring there will be enough water to feed the world’s growing population. Agriculture is, by far, the largest consumer of freshwater in the world. “There’s no question water stress is increasing in many places,” said Betsy Otto of the World Resources Institute, a think tank. In some areas, more than 80 percent of the available surface water is already being used.
Steve Schonberger, a water policy official at the World Bank, said agricultural supports should encourage water stewardship in addition to their usual goal of increased farm production.
Later in the day, Agriculture Undersecretary Ted McKinney said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization was not doing enough to promote technologies such as gene editing. He called for more demonstrations of GE crops and alluded to the network of U.S. agricultural attachés worldwide. “Technology is at the core. Never, never force it on anyone. [But] I think that’s where we’ve got to go.”
Founded in 1944, Heifer International uses a hands-on approach to food security, providing livestock to poor families and training them in animal care. In 2010, Jo Luck, then its chief executive, won the World Food Prize for expanding the scope of the charity’s work. Privately owned Cargill is one of the largest food processors and exporters in the world.