Safio Abdi Hirsi is a 47-year-old single mother whose household comprises 12 individuals including her grandchildren who are under five years. Mama Safio and her family were compelled to move from rural pastoral areas to Abudwak town when drought led to the death of their herd of livestock. She faced numerous financial challenges as a single mother and also as the sole breadwinner in this new environment which exacerbated their household food insecurity. Furthermore, as their diet mainly comprised of carbohydrates, it led to family members and more so the under-fives suffering from malnutrition.
In the year 2019, NAPAD in partnership with Medico International and with Funding from German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) supported 450 IDPs and host community households in Abudwak to establish poultry rearing which would enable them to access nutritious poultry products (chicken meat and eggs) for household consumption. This project was meant to improve the nutrition status of IDP households such as that of Mama Safio. Poultry farming is a sustainable alternative to households that have lost their livestock as it requires little capital and space to start and it is quite easy to manage poultry at a household level. The beneficiaries were trained on poultry keeping which included information on poultry feeding, poultry diseases and preparation and cooking poultry products.
In November 2021, the NAPAD MEAL team visited Abudwak IDP camps where they found Mama Safio still tending to her chicken. Through her hard work, the skills she acquired during the NAPAD supported training and with continuous mentorship, Mama Safio’s chicken now produces enough eggs which are now consumed by the household members.
“Thanks to the NAPAD team, the training was very useful such that we have managed the chicken provided to us, these chickens made it to the productive stage without losing even one to disease or other incidences”, reports Mama Safio
The eggs are now incorporated into their mealtimes whereby she either boils or fries the eggs and gives them to the children. She also adds the eggs to her batter in the morning to make pancakes for breakfast. She sometimes also slaughters the older chickens for her family meals and they have already consumed four over the last three months.
Mama Safio reports that poultry rearing became her source of extra income as she either sells the surplus eggs and the already grown hens to the neighboring families or at a nearby market. Mama Safio reports that’s she sells about seven eggs per week, each costing $0.3 brings fetching approximately $21 to $30.
“The nutritional status of my family has been improved; my children are now stronger than before because they consume eggs daily or after every two days. My lactating daughter enjoys the eggs and likes the chicken stew, it’s very sweet”. She says
Mama Safio appreciates NAPAD’s assistance and shared that the help had come at a much crucial time since before the provision of the poultry, Mama Safio was struggling to provide wholesome meals for her children. Furthermore, Mama Safio notes that some of the other beneficiaries have faced challenges of diseases and losses of chicken to predators. She would love if there could be additional assistance on training and mentoring on poultry farming to the IDP women.