Turkish aid initiative boosts women’s poultry enterprises in Tanzania

TANZANIA – Rural women in Tanzania are gaining new economic opportunities through a poultry-farming initiative supported by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), which equips women entrepreneurs with the skills, tools, and resources needed to build sustainable poultry businesses.

The initiative takes a practical approach to transforming backyard poultry into viable small businesses. Participating women receive improved dual-purpose chicken breeds, starter feed, poultry housing materials and basic veterinary support. 

Alongside these inputs, they are trained in flock management and small-business skills, enabling them to run poultry enterprises as reliable sources of income rather than subsistence activities.

The project begins with targeted capacity building. Selected participants undergo structured training covering flock management, proper feeding, disease prevention and hygiene standards necessary to maintain healthy birds. 

Alongside technical instruction, the women receive guidance in entrepreneurship, financial planning and basic marketing. This dual focus ensures that beneficiaries are not only capable poultry producers but also confident business operators able to manage costs, revenues and growth.

To translate training into action, each participant receives essential start-up support. This includes improved dual-purpose chicken breeds, starter feed and key production equipment such as feeders and waterers.

For many women in rural Tanzania, access to productive assets has long been a major constraint. Most households have traditionally kept low-yield indigenous chickens producing between 40 and 60 eggs per year, limiting both income potential and household nutrition. 

By introducing improved breeds and better feeding practices, annual egg production can increase to 180-250 eggs per bird. This jump in productivity significantly raises sales volumes while also ensuring a steady supply of protein for families.

The broader objective is to close persistent gaps in female employment and asset ownership in rural Tanzania. 

Poultry farming offers a practical entry point into agribusiness because it requires limited land and relatively modest start-up capital. 

Unlike seasonal crops, egg and meat sales can generate steady cash flow year-round, providing financial stability in rural communities where income streams are often unpredictable.

Improved access to quality feed and veterinary care is central to sustaining these gains. As participants transition from traditional scavenging systems to more structured semi-intensive production, feed efficiency and flock health become critical drivers of profitability. This shift is also expected to stimulate demand within the animal feed sector as productivity levels rise.

Evidence from similar livestock empowerment models shows that when improved breeds and proper feeding systems are adopted, household poultry income can double or even triple within the first production cycles. Increased egg consumption at home further improves child nutrition, reinforcing the project’s economic and social impact.

Expanding women-focused poultry systems

Complementing direct aid efforts is the CGIAR “Empowering Women in Business through Improved Chicken” project for 2025 to 2030, led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) under the CGIAR umbrella.

Unlike asset distribution programs, this flagship initiative focuses on scaling improved chicken genetics, strengthening poultry value chains and linking women farmers to reliable markets. It targets women-led enterprises, youth agripreneurs and input suppliers to build sustainable poultry businesses across Tanzania.

The project contributes to global goals on gender equality, zero hunger and decent work by integrating women more fully into commercial livestock systems.

By combining research-driven solutions with business incubation and market-access strategies, CGIAR aims to deliver long-term structural change in the poultry sector while reinforcing gains made through initiatives such as TİKA’s support program.

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