Abstract
BackgroundHousehold chicken production presents an opportunity to promote child nutrition, but the benefits might be offset by increased environmental contamination. Using household surveys, direct observations, and in-depth interviews with woman caregivers, we sought to describe the relationship between chicken management practices and household exposure to environmental contamination, and assess barriers to adopting improved husbandry practices.MethodsFirst, we analyzed baseline data from 973 households raising chickens in the two interventions arms from the Agriculture-to-Nutrition (ATONU) study in Ethiopia to assess the relationship between animal management practices and environmental exposures. Second, we conducted six-hour direct observations of children’s environmental exposures in 18 households. Among these households, we analyzed in-depth interviews with child caregivers.ResultsQuantitative analyses showed that households raised approximately 11 chickens, had animal feces visible on the property 67% of the time, and children’s hands were visibly dirty 38% of the time. Households with more chickens had lower exposure to animal feces. Having a chicken coop increased the risk of observing animal feces on the property by 30%, but among those with a coop, having an enclosed coop reduced that risk by 83%. Coops that were enclosed, had fencing, and were located further from homes were associated with a reduced risk of observing animal feces and an increased likelihood of children having clean hands. Direct observations showed that chicken coops were often poorly designed or not used. On average, 3 to 5 chickens were inside homes at a time, and livestock and domestic animals were frequently inside of houses and interacting with young children. In-depth interviews revealed that protection of animals, maintenance of household cleanliness and health, type of chicken (local versus improved) and resource constraints influenced management decisions.ConclusionsImprovements in chicken management practices could mitigate the exposure of household members to environmental contamination. Our findings highlight the need for training and resources to promote safe animal husbandry practices and optimal child health in nutrition-sensitive livestock projects.Trial registrationClinical trials number: NCT03152227; Retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on May 12, 2012.
Highlights
Household chicken production presents an opportunity to promote child nutrition, but the benefits might be offset by increased environmental contamination
Contamination of houses and yards with animal feces can lead to the spread of pathogens in water, food, and hands, resulting in the ingestion of fecal matter that leads to infection and, threats to the health and nutrition of infants and young children [7, 9]
The main pathways through which exposure to animal contamination can harm child nutritional status are through the transmission of zoonotic pathogens that cause diarrhea, through parasitic infections such as worms, and through a subclinical condition known as environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), which triggers low-level inflammation and poor nutrient absorption [7, 9, 10]
Summary
Household chicken production presents an opportunity to promote child nutrition, but the benefits might be offset by increased environmental contamination. In Ethiopia, approximately 40% of children under five suffer from chronic undernutrition [1] To address this issue among rural populations that face poor physical and financial access to healthy diets, agricultural approaches have been promoted as one potential way to support nutrition [2, 3]. The main pathways through which exposure to animal contamination can harm child nutritional status are through the transmission of zoonotic pathogens that cause diarrhea, through parasitic infections such as worms, and through a subclinical condition known as environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), which triggers low-level inflammation and poor nutrient absorption [7, 9, 10]. Increased ownership of animals may be associated with increased exposure to fecal matter [11] which has been associated with a higher prevalence of child growth faltering [10,11,12,13]
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