Benabdeljelil K, Arfaoui T and E Karari

Family poultry farming plays a major role in the economy of rural Morocco. It provides cash income,job opportunity and remains one of the most popular and economically rewarding mean of supplying animal proteins to local communities. Population growth, urbanization and successive years of drought have further led to increased reliance on such traditional low risk production sectors.

In addition to the aforementioned factors small holder family poultry (FP) constitutes an important contributor to food security in rural Morocco where 70% of the farms have less than 5 ha. This sector contributes over 22% of the poultry meat produced in the country and nearly one egg out of four is laid in FP farms. In recently conducted investigations, the ratio of village chicken to human populations was slightly over 1:1 (4) and almost doubles in favorable seasons. Current constraints to FP systems were poor management practices; lack of feed or unbalanced supplementary feeding, prevalence of diseases, lack of extension and health services. (2 and 4 )

Previous improvement programs have essentially been based on introduction of new genotypes leading to heavier birds, higher productivity, but did not emphasis enough environmental adaptation. The new concept is rather the implementation of sustainable projects in harmony with natural resources and to alleviate somehow existing pressure on the environment. Lack of detailed appropriate data hinders however significant projections. It has not been possible to correlate existing statistical data with any major limiting environmental factor. These issues are briefly addressed in the present contribution along with few guidelines for improvement in the local conditions.

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Women play a major role in FP development through provision of labor, management practices and decision making concerning the use of resources. Most flocks were owned and managed by women (in 75% of the households) in these systems characterized by low investment and and practically no involvement of state services. At the opposite of other animal flocks, no association or share of any kind existed in these productions which were all privately owned and managed.

Flock composition in FP was essentially dominated by chickens (82% of the household surveyed raised chickens) as reported by 1 and 4. The birds raised in these extensive husbandry systems had rather low productivity compared to others. Detailed descriptions of these systems have been reported by 3 and 4. The majority of the birds raised were hatched on the farms while a growing number of households used random crosses with commercial improved strains.

Socio economical status of the household affected flock structure and technical level of management as reported elsewhere (6,7). Very rarely and except when cooperatives were involved , some professional organizations were available lacking credit facilities. Most of the information circulated verbally. Women managing flocks aimed to maintain sustainability rather than stress productivity; thus several did not feed their children eggs to keep fertile eggs for setting. No taboo of any kind against eating any poultry product was observed.

Several technical possibilities are available to improve rural poultry production. Flock productivity is based on various husbandry parameters relating to reproduction, mortality and flock management. Any suggested mean for improvement should bear in mind the importance of traditional practices in maintaining the resource base while accessing to productive techniques and new markets .At the household level, we should continue to improve production efficiency, adopt new technologies. Poultry housing using local materials and properly designed for each region should reduce mortality and increase productivity.

The availability of year-round feed and water resources (in some areas) in appropriate quantity and quality constitute one of the major limiting factor to a sustainable production. Suitable watering and feeding systems are to be developed saving water and at the mean time improving its quality. Training and education will help understand feeding needs of birds at various ages and species. Scavenging might be a good source of free nutrients but with a little imput,particularly in unfavourable times.

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Research in this area has a key role to achieve in order to not only avoid mistakes of the past (projects sustainability, introduction of unsuitable genotypes, copying of success stories from elsewhere.) but also to strengthen food security and increase income through original means, adapted to environmental needs, to alleviate poverty, to increase employment, to promote gender equality where it is the most needed.

To reach such goals and promote FP, regional approaches are needed where the local population remains the key player with sound ,efficient ,cost effective integrated programs. Developing specific tools or appropriate research methodology in this area remains an important challenge. Commitments of more resources to successful programs will then become a prority . Multidisciplinary approaches in coordination and complementary to existing or on going programs must be the angular stones of new research projects. Coordination of research goals to extension and training programs is an achievable goal.

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Genetic improvements
Improved chicken genotypes have been introduced in previous programs (5). The successes and failures of these operations remains a topic of controversy. Their longterm impact on FP systems productivity has been rather limited. In a time where bio diversity and preservation of genetic resources is a world priority, these introductions of new genetic pools are of great concern.

Improvement of local flock performance can be attained however through planned and controlled selection and crossbreeding. Previous studies conducted on rustic breeds in local conditions have demonstrated that crossbred performed better than local chickens and had specific advantages compared to commercial lines. (5) To improve biological productivity of FP genetic resources, continuing on-farm performance monitoring is required to quantify efficiency and genotype-environment interactions.

Disease control
Inadequate housing facilities, low quality and insufficient feed supply,lack of awareness and above all unavailability of environmentally suited chicks all contribute to high mortality and reduced productivity which can be substantially improved through appropriate disease control strategies. Major diseases and constraints conditions limiting FP should be evaluated in relation to the investigated areas rather than copying stereotyped models developed elsewhere. Sound surveillance services, regional epidemiological networks ,simple evaluation and monitoring systems and a stable supply of the strictly needed products to remote areas are key factors to long-term success.

Practical bio-safety measures, specifically designed control programs and availability of products suitable for FP are all prerequisites to efficient control programs. Sensitizing veterinary services to develop effective, adapted control methods for the main diseases encountered is only a part of sustainable projects. These realistic strategies and others will increase prevention and control of major poultry diseases encountered.

Numerous possibilities for improvements of FP can be tried such as training, products diversification,extension and credit availability services. The main priorities are to be selected for each region according to its particular needs.

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Products marketing
FP farming should be oriented more toward quality in a broad sense including product quality, environment preservation instead of quantity oriented mass production. Development of niche markets to increase added value products, creation of “Appellation d'origine contrôlée” and “label products” in addition to diversification are few of the possibilities. Poultry products obtained from these systems have a good image; their acceptability is not hindered by any of the usual stimuli of consumer environment. Local policy makers currently placing a growing emphasis on developing traceability systems for intensive animal productions should extend their concerns to FP products.

Governmental support
A three fold mission for government role can be assigned: - establishing clear standards and regulations which benefit all chain participants; - co-ordinating efforts of agencies, NGO's ,state and international services, mass media operating in FP sector, - developing harmonious long-term collaboration, building partnership, mutual benefit relationships with the farmers. In the institutional process, better linkages should be established among FP farmers, government participants and markets. These combined efforts will promote FP and increase food security. Extension and information, training and continuing education are usually among state duties. Strengthening through education, training of human resources in their respective functions and amplifying access and transfer of knowledge for FP managers are the priorities.

Appropriate teaching materials specifically designed for target populations should be developed using local languages. There is an increasing need for information and communication, effective extension materials and tested methodologies.

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There is a tremendous potential for developing FP production in Morocco. It is sobering to remember that these systems are operating with environmentally friendly production methods which is an absolute prerequisite for their durability. By their integrated nature, FP systems are already quite sustainable and supply precious protein sources in periods of scarcity. In order to strengthen sustainability, preparedness to drought, introduction of appropriate low -cost available technologies, affordable measures can limit the impact of factors constraining production.

FP raising remains a low cost ,important and efficient way to significantly reduce poverty and enhance food security particularly in poor areas and for low income populations. Food availability and poverty alleviation are goals that require full attention and co operation from all interested parties in this sector. Tested strategies for effective improvements means should be implemented. Outlining directions for future work in relation to other areas (of agricultural or non agricultural) development is also an urgent necessity. Recommendations focusing on projects implementation, past experiences and difficulties with the application of participatory approaches, development of agribusiness strategies should be thought of in advance to insure the success of FP projects and their sustainability.

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1-Agenor F. 1973. Les étapes du Développement de la Production Avicole Marocaine.
Hommes, Terre et Eaux 8 p89-106.

2-Benabdeljelil K. 1983. Poultry production in Morocco. World’s Poultry Science Journal: 39(1) p.52-63.

3-Benabdeljelil  K. and  T. Arfaoui 2001. Characterization of Beldi Chicken and turkeys in rural poultry flocks of Morocco : Current State and Future Outlook . AGRI  31 : 79 – 87

4-Benabdeljelil K., T. Arfaoui and P. Johnston 2001. Traditional poultry farming in Morocco
10th International Conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (AITVM) "Livestock, Community and environment" Copenhagen Denmark

5-Benabdeljelil K. and P. Merat, 1992. Test de types génétiques pour une production avicole locale au Maroc. I N R A. Prod. Anim. 5, 173-178.

6-Guèye E.F. 2000. The role of family poultry in poverty alleviation food security and the promotion of gender equality in rural Africa. Outlook on Agriculture. Vol.  29 no 2 p 129 – 136.

7-Guèye E.F. 2002. Family poultry research and development in low, income food deficit countries: Approaches and prospects. Outlook on Agriculture. Vol 31 no 1 p 13 – 21

The authors would like to thank the people of Agoudim villages for their collaboration and the Benson Institute (BYU University, Provo USA) for  their support.

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