Something to crow about in the Comoros
In the Pacific, FAO is boosting nutrition in schools, promoting nutritional understanding and supporting healthy eating habits both inside and outside the classroom.
Women prepare feed for their chickens in the Comoros. ©FAO/Jobert Tchuidjang
The Union of Comoros, or the Comoros, is an archipelago of volcanic islands off the south-east coast of Africa. It boasts blissful weather, swaying palm trees and clear waters.
But it is also one of the world's poorest nations, hampered by few natural resources, high dependence on imported food, and the constant threat of natural disasters.
The consequences are stark.
The Comoros imports about 70 percent of its food, and the import rate of some foods, such as poultry, is as high as 90 percent. Half of the population – about half a million people - do not have enough to eat, and malnutrition rates are amongst the highest in the world.
To address this, one area identified by the Government of Comoros and FAO in 2017 to improve people’s access to home-grown, nutritious food as well as boost their income was the poultry sector.
Since then, FAO and its partners have been working with some 400 farmers – about half of them women, and nearly three quarters of them young people - to set up poultry groups and over 250 henhouses.
Farmers in the Comoros use a modern feeder provided by FAO so their chickens have all the necessary nutrient-rich feed and water (left). ©FAO/Jobert Tchuidjang. Women prepare feed for their chickens in the Comoros (right). ©FAO/Jobert Tchuidjang
They provided them with 16 solar-powered incubators (on 12 sites) and five chickens per person, and trained some 450 people – farmers and government workers - in raising poultry. FAO has also provided vaccination services.