Nearly 1 million Ugandans live with HIV/AIDS and 77,000 of them die each year as a result. This destroys families and leaves many with only a single parent or child to lead them. These fractured families do not have a means of income or adequate nutrition. In 2006, Kelly Flamos and Julian Harris, fellows at The AIDS Support Organization (TASO), started the Poultry Project to address the persistent poverty and malnutrition plaguing HIV/AIDS-affected children {DOWNLOAD Original Program Proposal}. Poultry farming is a simple solution, as it provides nutrition, income and acts as a renewable resource for participating families. The Poultry Project works with TASO — the largest indigenous HIV/AIDS support organization in Africa — to provide HIV/AIDS-affected children with chickens and support to develop sustainable, small-scale poultry holdings. Each family receives chickens, a bicycle, training and ongoing support. Participants care for the hens, which ideally produce eggs and offspring, which are then eaten and/or sold, providing additional food and/or income for the household. Participants keep 100% of their profits.
The Poultry Project has established and currently oversees the small businesses of 27 participating families living in Mbale, Uganda. The Poultry Projec is one of TASO’s sustainable livelihoods programs (SLP). TASO identifies families (comprised of AIDS orphans: children that have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illness) that would benefit from this program and provides logistical assistance on the ground. TASO staff members, under the supervision of the TASO Project Officer, provide ongoing support to participants. Each year, at least two training workshops are conducted at TASO Mbale for participants.
We have been successful in increasing and contributing to participant’s livelihood. Participants have not only used their initial grant to meet their immediate needs for nutrition and income, but they have been able to use it to accumulate more resources. A full 73% of participating families have increased their animal holdings as part of the program and nearly a third of participating families have used income from their poultry holdings to invest in education of their children.
The Poultry Project team based in the U.S. includes the founder, board members and interns/volunteers (the Project team operates on a voluntary basis without compensation). The Uganda-based team includes the Poultry Project Manager, who is the TASO Mbale Project Officer, and other TASO staff. The Project team communicates with the TASO Mbale Project Officer/Poultry Project Manager weekly via email. The Project contributes funds to TASO to procure the needed supplies (chickens, bicycles, training). We raise these funds through grassroots fundraising efforts in the U.S. TASO and the Project work together on monitoring, evaluation, and strategic planning.
With the documented success experienced in Mbale, the founders of The Poultry Project and the TASO team are looking toward expansion. In 2007 and 2008, members of the team traveled to Uganda to expand the participant base (adding 6 families) and implement a new organizational structure to streamline the support of growing poultry businesses. In early 2010, the Poultry Project worked with fellows from the George Washington University to complete a thorough evaluation of the project to identity program strengths, weaknesses, impact, and recommendations for future work {DOWNLOAD The Poultry Project 2010 Evaluation} . The evaluation will be used to inform programmatic improvements and expansion of the Project in Mbale and to TASO’s other branches. The Poultry Project started working with five interns in mid-2010; the interns are assisting with fundraising efforts, improving program efficiency, and drafting a strategic plan. Some of the interns will travel to Mbale in 2010-2011 to assist with the expansion of the Project in Mbale, adding approximately 50 families. Expansion to other TASO branches is planned for late 2011. In addition, the Project is currently working on developing relationships with other organizations that are active in Uganda and are able help us disseminate information and provide complimentary services to participants.
The founders would like to continue The Poultry Project’s original mission by facilitating the aforementioned expansion, collaboration with other development organizations operating in Uganda, and affiliating with U.S. college and university study abroad/service-learning departments. The Poultry Project incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2009 and received its 501c3 tax-exempt status in the fall of 2010.
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