Village chickens have been kept for millennia under patronage of smallholder farmers. Our study was intended at dissecting the signature of artificial selection and ecological variation on morphological structures of Ethiopian village chickens. This report was based on visual traits of 798 chickens and a concise one-to-one interview of 399 farmers for their preferences on chicken morphology. Significant population-specific differences in morphological counts were commonly found for rare morphological variants. Most of them were frequently seen in Jarso chickens, while some of them unique to Jarso chickens. This might be explained by the effect of location-specific evolutionary forces and differences in their breeding histories. The high within population variation in the frequency of morphological counts was observed among these panmictic chicken populations largely evolved under uncontrolled mating. Single comb was not (less) preferred by majority of the farmers (93.8 percent); it was thus present at a low frequency (26.7 percent). Farmers have shown high preference for yellow shank (42.3 percent), which was then frequently observed (61.1 percent). The reported reasons for morphological likeness were visual appeal, market demand and cultural and religious values. The absence of significant variation in preferences for chicken morphology among communities between the two study sites was attributed to their multifunctional needs.

Village chickens can be found in all developing countries and play a vital role in the livelihood strategies of many poor rural households. The implementation of effective village poultry production programmes in Asia, Africa and Latin America has resulted in increased poultry numbers, household purchasing power, home consumption of poultry products and decision-making power for women.

The rapid and wide geographical spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 has drawn attention to the neglect of village poultry health. This crisis has presented an opportunity to invest in improved village poultry husbandry that can make a positive contribution to human development in rural areas across a range of endeavours including: empowerment of women (increased productivity, knowledge, participation in community life as vaccinators, etc); HIV/AIDS mitigation; wildlife conservation through a reduction in bushmeat consumption; improved understanding of disease transmission, prevention and control, human nutrition and hygiene; and, most importantly building trust between communities and government agencies.

Key recommendations to support technically sound and sustainable Newcastle disease control programmes in village chickens include encouraging veterinary pharmaceutical manufacturers to develop and observe a code of conduct that supports the supply of appropriate vaccine with an adequate shelf life, giving instructions in local languages, using temperature indicators in vaccine containers and discouraging the payment of commission on the purchase of vaccine. Quality assurance activities should be built into all vaccination programmes to improve cost-efficiency, and should include post-vaccination serological monitoring of a representative sample of birds, especially when a new vaccine or new disease control programme is introduced. Also required is the participation of farmers (male and female) in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of vaccination campaigns; and active collaboration with the Ministries of Agriculture, Health and Education in village poultry improvement programmes.

The following paper analyses gender issues to be taken into consideration in Newcastle disease (ND) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) control. Gender issues tend to be sidelined from discussions and gender disparities in economic and decision making matters are often neglected. The integration of the analysis of gender relations in the study of agro-economic characteristics is of major importance because the paradigms of access, control and benefits of the resources, and consequently of exclusion, are based on social relations between men and women. The understanding of gender relations and its implications to livestock rearing is therefore an imperative in the effective promotion of appropriate interventions in order to improve biosecurity.

The main objective of this work was to describe the characteristics of and major constraints to village chicken production in Myanmar. Data on village chicken production, health, husbandry and marketing were collected in 296 households in 10 villages in the Yangon division of Myanmar in November 2003. The average flock size in the study area was about 30 birds, comprising 12 chicks, 12 growers, 4 hens and 2 cocks. Disease as a cause of mortality was more prominent in growers and adults, while predation and exposure to unfavourable environmental conditions were major causes of mortality in chicks. The main predators identified were: birds, rats, snakes, dogs and cats in 32, 31, 17, 15 and 3% of households respectively. Two main strategies were identified to improve village chicken production: vaccination as a means of protecting birds against Newcastle disease and confinement rearing and supplementary feeding of chicks, as a means of reducing the attrition rate of young chicks. This is the first survey conducted describing village chicken population structure and productivity in Myanmar.

This paper discusses the village chicken upgrading programme in Malawi. It looks at the objectives of the programme, its implementation, the problems faced and how it can be improved. The village chicken upgrading programme started in the early 1950s. Its main aim is to improve egg and meat production from indigenous chickens through crossbreeding using the Black Australorp. The programme is hampered by many problems such as ill defined objectives and implementation strategies, lack of proper poultry husbandry skills, inconsistent and poor supply of birds, lack of cheap feed of reliable quality, prevalence of diseases, poor livestock extension services and lack of easily accessible veterinary services. Potential solutions and recommendations for improving the project are suggested.