Social-economic impact of chicken production to resource constrained communities in Dodoma, Tanzania

ABSTRACT Chickens, in many households, are kept by women and the youths, providing employment and means of increasing family economic gains. However, little information on the social-economic contribution of chickens’ production in Dodoma is available. This study examined the potential of chickens’ production in Kongwa district and Dodoma Municipality in Tanzania. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey (with Likert scaling) was conducted and in-depth interviews were used to gather information from the local livestock keepers. A total of 200 were interviewed, of these, 33.93 % were males whereas, and 66.07% were female. The entire family was responsible for chicken management in 66.07% of the households, whereby, in 25% of the households, only women were involved, and in 7.01% of the households, only men were involved in rearing chickens. Chicken production contributed socially and economically through meat, manure, offerings, source of income, aesthetic value (beauty), provision of school fees, and source of employment. The contribution of chicken production socially and economically among these categories varied significantly (Kruskal-Wallis statistical test (KWS)=33.36, p