The Impact of Poultry Production on the Empowerment of Rural Women: Lessons from the Indigenous Poultry Value Chain Project

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of poultry production on women’s empowerment in Mwenezi District, Zimbabwe. A two-stage multi-sampling procedure was used to select 20 participants for the study. A mixed methodology that combines both qualitative and quantitative data was used to collect the data. The data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation, cross-tabulations, ranking, and chi-square analysis. A two-stage weighted mean procedure in Excel was used to rank the most important functions of poultry. Qualitative data was organized into themes and analyzed manually. According to the findings, the mean number of chickens per respondent was (24.6 ± 2.96). The findings also indicated that farmers prioritized chickens primarily for household consumption and income generation. Analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between education level and the number of chickens owned. Household heads with higher levels of education had a higher number of chickens, which is a potential indicator that the level of education is an important precursor to the adoption of improved management practices. According to the results of the study, the poultry project managed to achieve four key empowerment dimensions for women, i.e., empowering them to be financially independent through poultry sales, generating power and voice for women through contributing to household income, helping women build their assets, therefore improving their social status, and enhancing their leadership through helping them take up key leadership and decision-making positions in the management and maintenance of hatcheries.