Agricultural development support; poultry extension and training subproject paper

The Sana"a Poultry Training Center (SPTC) will be the principal location of project activities and will train 23 male, farm-oriented and 15 female village extension agents, and 5 satellite and 26 private farm managers. U.S. training will be given to 8 B.S.-level technicians and two graduate-level poultry specialists (a veterinarian and an extensionist) from the MOA. The SPTC will manage flocks and sales of eggs and chickens, coordinate with the Rawdah Poultry-Rearing and Distribution Center (RPRDC) in rearing and distributing fowl, manage feed mixing and storage, supervise extensionsists, and manage in-house matters. To handle these responsibilites, new personnel will be hired and technical assistance provided. Six new poultry rearing houses will be constructed at the RPRDC to provide capacity for raising a total of 319,700 16-week-old pullets during the project. These pullets will be sold to 217,000 farmers - in groups of 25 birds to traditional, mainly female farmers; in units of 500 and 2,000 to 78 small-scale and 34 medium-scale egg producers; and in units of 5,000 to broiler chicken producers. The RPRDC will also distribute 10 kg of imported feed per pullet to producers. An expatriate poultry technician will assist the RPRDC director in conducting these activities. Satellite demonstration egg producing farms in Sadah, Sanham, and Jahliah, each with a 650-bird capacity, will be set up and managed by MOA employees trained at the SPTC. These farms will be open to visitors, will provide information to the public, and will provide on-the-job training to one person each year.