Around 40 small scale poultry farmers and 20 senior officials from Department of Livestock Services (DLS) gathered for a handing over ceremony of 40 small-scale commercial poultry sheds in Wazirpur Upazila, Barisal, on Monday, 4 May 2015, supported by a USAID funded FAO project contributing to ‘Improving Food Security of Women and Children by Enhancing Backyard and Small Scale Poultry Production in Southern Delta Region’.

Dr Shelina Afroza, Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Mr Mike Robson, FAO Representative in Bangladesh, Md. Gaus, Divisional Commissioner, Barisal, Md. Shahidul Alam, Deputy Commissioner, Barisal, Mr. Borhaniz Sultan, Project Management Coordinator, Economic Growth Office, USAID Bangladesh and Mr Goutam Kumar Kundu, Deputy Director, Department of Livestock Services, Barisal were present along with other stakeholders and beneficiaries.

In his opening remarks, Mr Robson, FAOR in Bangladesh pointed out the importance of biosecurity to prevent the spread of disease.  The sheds developed, with concrete floor, strong netting, perimeter fencing, rainwater harvest and solar energy for lighting combine state of the art poultry shed, built with local materials.  Perimtere fence and regular clean out of the shed are two biosecurity measures shown to have improved returns from poultry in research conducted by GoB officials on this and related projects.

In her remarks, Dr Afroza, Secretary and Chief Guest of the event highlighted the success of FAO initiative despite the scarcity of resources in the region. She thanked FAOR for implementing this cost efficient poultry farm model with major success, and hoped to see replication of the method in the future.    

With a USAID funding of USD 1.8 million, this pilot project - due to complete in September 2015- is currently operational in 10 unions across 5 Upazilas of Khulna and Barisal districts.  Results will be studied and opportunities for further scale up will be identified.