Family poultry encompasses the wide variety of small-scale poultry production systems found in rural, urban and peri-urban areas of developing countries. One can distinguish four broad categories of family poultry production systems: small extensive scavenging, extensive scavenging, semi-intensive and small-scale intensive. Empirical and circumstantial evidence from many developing countries shows that poultry development interventions can bring significant benefits to households, in terms of contributions to food security, women’s empowerment and poverty reduction. During three electronic conferences and preparation of the “Decision Tools for Family Poultry Development” several good practices and lessons learned for a “roadmap towards a more sustainable family poultry development” were recognized as essential tools for designing more effective projects.