Abstract
There has been a decline in chicken production in most developing countries, yet poultry constitute an important pillar in HIV/AIDS alleviation and act as an income source plus food security in rural communities. The limited availability and high cost of stock feeds that have not increased concomitantly with producer prices are partly responsible for the decline. These limitations are especially important in rural communities because they are resource poor. Farmers therefore enlisted a priority research on alternative feed sources for poultry production since home-grown feeds available to the farmer can sometimes be limited. Maize and sorghum are usually the most abundant sources of grain available, which can supply adequate carbohydrate but not protein. Protein sources are expensive and hence unaffordable to the smallholder farmer. Small holder farmers have been using leaf meals as protein sources in order to alleviate feed limitations in poultry production. One such leaf meal is Moringa oleifera Lam (syns. Moringa pterygosperm, family Moringaceae). The uses of Moringa oleifera have attracted attention of researchers. Preliminary investigation showed that the plant has high biomass production. Its leaves are used as vegetables by humans in central Africa and have a good profile of amino acids that makes it a valuable source of livestock feed.
Highlights
Low protein consumption in the developing nations, as a result of poverty and over population has encouraged greater interest in the production of fast growing farm animals
Alders (2005) reported that village chickens contribute to HIV/AIDS mitigation mainly through improved household food security and income generation
There is no documented evidence based on systematic research on the nutritive value and levels of inclusion of such feeds as Moringa oleifera leaf meals in indigenous and commercial chicken diets
Summary
Low protein consumption in the developing nations, as a result of poverty and over population has encouraged greater interest in the production of fast growing farm animals. Small holder farmers have been using leaf meals as protein sources in order to alleviate feed limitations in poultry production. In Zimbabwe, poultry farming receive little attention from rural development agents as they pay much attention to cereals and large livestock, despite the fact that almost all farmers keep some flocks of chickens which constitute an important pillar in HIV/AIDS alleviation and act as an income source plus food security.
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