“A Father Learning from his Son” - Profiles on Farmers using KUKUSTAR

Yokosofat Mwayi is a 48-year-old farmer in Budaka, which is located in Eastern Uganda. He has been farming poultry for years and has witnessed the loss of his birds on numerous occasions to outbreaks of Newcastle Disease. 

One day, his son came home and told him and his wife about KUKUSTAR after learning about the vaccine at a local market day (during our KUKUSTAR promotions). He advised his father and mother to vaccinate their birds because it would protect them from the outbreaks. At first, they doubted him and dismissed his claims. However, after many discussions, Omuria's son was able to convince his parents to try the vaccine and they administered it to three chickens.  To their surprise, the chickens survived while others died, and since then, Omuria and his wife started vaccinating their poultry. His son is now the advisor for the community and works as a community-based vaccinator, vaccinating their birds as well as those of their neighbors who pay him to purchase KUKUSTAR and vaccinate their poultry.

“The Battle of the Spouses” - Profiles on Farmers using KUKUSTAR

Mbarak and Grace are examples of spouses in different households that took a chance and vaccinated their birds with the KUKUSTAR Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccine against the wishes of their other halves. As a result of their ambition, Mbarak and Grace were both forced by their spouses to separate their birds from their partners’ because they did not trust the vaccine and wanted to see the results first before engaging in the practice. The result was the same in both households. 

In the case of Mbarak, he separated his birds because his wife did not want hers vaccinated. Eventually, an ND outbreak found its way into their home and his chickens survived, while all his wife’s birds died. Since then, Mbarak’s wife has embraced the importance of vaccination and now also vaccinates her poultry with KUKUSTAR. 

For Grace, her situation was a little bit different. She was discouraged from vaccinating her chickens by both her husband and neighbors who claimed that using KUKUSTAR would kill her birds. However, despite the warnings, Grace still chose to vaccinate her birds. As expected, during an outbreak of the disease, her birds survived while both her husband’s and her neighbors’ poultry perished. After witnessing her success, both her spouse and her neighbors soon followed suit and vaccinated their birds. 

One neighbor, however, still believed that the vaccine was dangerous. He claimed that the vaccine, which is administered through an eye drop, destroyed the eye of his hen and made her blind. Grace told him that she had never had that experience, so she advised him to only vaccinate the newborn chicks and not the hen. When the next ND outbreak hit their households, the disease killed the hen but the chicks survived because they had all received the vaccine.  Since then, he too vaccinates his birds with KUKUSTAR.

Like many other couples and families, there is often a division in households when it comes to the introduction of new animal-health products to their poultry. Many farmers have had negative experiences, especially with vaccines. This is because the products are often inadequate, there is insufficient education about vaccines, and/or because farmers fail to understand the difference between vaccines, which prevent and protect from disease, and medicine, which treats sick birds. The vaccination of sick birds and the misguided idea that a vaccine can cure their birds has left them with misconceptions and skepticism about buying products related to the health of their poultry.

World Veterinary Day 2014 - Animal Welfare in Rural Settings

The theme of this year’s World Veterinary Day is Animal Welfare. Through the work of numerous organizations such as PETA, animal welfare has become a social movement, primarily focusing on the fair treatment of animals. However, animal welfare goes beyond just addressing animal cruelty, it looks at the overall wellbeing of animals.

As 2014 is also the International Year of Family Farming, it is important to look at animal welfare in rural settings, which is affected by the lack or limitations in basic resources for these animals such as animal health solutions and proper nutrition. In rural Uganda, for instance, majority of the households carry poultry and other livestock. However, access to these health solutions for animals is inadequate due to limited funds, technology, education and other resources. 

Brentec Vaccines is a manufacturing company in Uganda that is dedicated to improving and protecting the health and welfare of rural farm animals in Africa. By teaching rural farmers how to take care of their animals properly, providing them with preventative animal health solutions, and educating them about diseases and treatments, we hope to transform the livelihood of both the farmers and the animals in rural households.

Animal welfare is not just important for animals and animal activists. It affects all of us because healthy animals that are farmed correctly can play a pivotal role in improving public health through a number of contributing factors, including income, hygiene, health, and nutrition to name a few. So by increasing the value we place on animal welfare we are in turn investing in the wellbeing of human beings as well.

Surviving the Ill-Wishers - Profiles on Farmers using KUKUSTAR

Margaret Mboizi is a veteran user of our KUKUSTAR thermostable Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccine. She lives in a village called Bulangira in Eastern Uganda and is a 38-year-old poultry farmer in a household that accommodates eight people. She first started using the vaccine back in 2012, and although she has had a lot of success, her journey has not been easy because she has had to deal with ill-wishers trying to sabotage her poultry-keeping practice along the way. 

Early in our distribution and pilot testing, Margaret was one of the few farmers who had the initiative to get involved early and she began vaccinating her chickens. Although others thought it was too much of a risk to use a new and relatively unknown vaccine on their poultry, she believed it could make a difference and so invested in the health of her chickens.

Her early investment paid off and in just a couple of months, Margaret quickly saw the population of her free-range birds increase from just a few birds to 250.She then began to periodically sell off some of the mature birds as new crops of chicks hatched so as to create room for the new chicks   Now, two years later, the turn-over of bird population in her household has risen enough for her to go as far as sending one of her children to university. In fact, over the 2013 Christmas holidays alone, she was able to sell chickens worth 450,000 UGX ($180). In addition to her poultry, Margaret now has cows and goats as well that she was able to acquire from the sale of chickens. Yet the neighbours who had not vaccinated their birds, lost them when an ND outbreak came.

Her success became an inspiration for her neighbours and other family members who began to visit her in the morning and evening to ask how she had done so well. Her response was, and still is, always the same; KUKUSTAR. During these visits, she would talk to them about the importance of vaccinating their birds and rearing them properly. 

However, not all her neighbours wished her well. Indeed Margaret recounts an incident where one neighbour who never vaccinated his birds decided to throw over the edge separating the two homes offals (intestines) of dead chickens with the intention that Margaret’s chicken would eat them and also fall sick and die. Margaret’s children watched all this and reported to the mother. But to the surprise of both Margaret and the neighbour her flock of birds did not fall sick or die even after eating the infected offals of her neighbour’s dead birds. This was a huge shock to her neighbour who, after witnessing this, was now completely convinced that the vaccine worked and asked to buy one of Margaret’s vaccinated hens. She accepted his request and since then, her neighbour, and the rest of the community, have embraced KUKUSTAR. 

With all her experience and success, Margaret now educates the community on the proper practices for poultry keeping and, in addition to being a successful poultry farmer, she has now become a vaccinator for her neighbours, who give her the money to buy and vaccinate their birds for them. Margaret is the perfect example of how an innovative animal health solution, like KUKUSTAR, can help a rural farmer improve the livelihoods of the people in his/her household. Furthermore, for women like Margaret who are able to invest the limited time they have on free-range poultry keeping because of its low-maintenance, it is a way for them to become financially independent while also being seen as valuable contributors and members of their households.

Poultry Farming: The seed to fighting poverty (Where is Dorothy Now?)

Back in the day, ancestors in many parts of Uganda developed a well-tested strategy for fighting poverty. This strategy was built on the idea that with just one chicken (a hen), it is possible to take a child and a family out of poverty. The practice, which is now known as Entandikwa in Luganda (meaning “start-up capital”), centers on the chicken as the start-up capital. So when a baby is born, the grandparents are supposed to gift the newborn with a chicken so that as the child grows, the chicken and its offspring will provide an income to support this child and help give them the education, nutrition and healthcare they may need.

How this idea is put into practice is best seen through the story of one of our veterans, Dorothy. For those of you who do not know Dorothy, you can read about how she became a part of our family in the Trading a meal for an improved livelihood entry from Nov. 7, 2012. 

Dorothy with her most recent offspring;
four young chicks (Dec. 2013).

Dorothy had her first dose of KUKUSTAR just over 14 months ago. After narrowly escaping a center spot at a roast dinner in September 2012, she has come a long way since our last report on her. If you remember well, she was given a second chance at life and proved her value to her new household in rural, Eastern Uganda, producing 12 chicks less than two months after her fate changed. Now, just over one year later, Dorothy continues to be a pillar in her household. From what began as just 12 chicks, her fertility and good health have given way to two goats and numerous chicken offspring.

Over the last 14 months Dorothy, as well as the females from her first offspring that came of age have hatched chickens that have been primarily sold, eaten or gifted. Through the rise in the chicken population, the household income was able to grow enough to invest in the purchase of one goat in April 2013 (seven months after they received Dorothy). To understand the value of each chick that is able to survive disease and predators, and reach adulthood is best understood by its price in the market.  The average price for a chicken in rural Uganda is 15, 000 to 20,000 Uganda shillings (UGX) approximately $6 to $8 USD while a goat is 10 times the price, going for about 150,000 to 200,000 UGX or $60 to $80 USD.  An egg alone sells for about 400 UGX or $0.17.

The two goats that are now in the household as a
result of Dorothy and her offspring (Dec. 2013).

As luck (or keen observation and skill) might have it, the purchased goat turned out to already be pregnant and gave birth weeks after arriving in her new household. This increased the livestock and their value in the household to two goats and numerous chickens. But Dorothy’s journey did not end there. She still continues to contribute to the household’s income and currently has five chickens running around that will soon be ready to begin incubating eggs of their own, as well as her four young chicks that she is still minding for.

The journey of Dorothy and her impact on a rural household in Eastern Uganda is a great example of how livestock, in particular poultry, can improve the income of rural households. It also shows how one chicken (through Entandikwa) can support a child into adulthood, by providing them with the nutritional (through meat and eggs) and financial stability they need to prosper despite the disadvantages they are born into.

The almost effortless practice of poultry keeping, especially with local free-range birds that do not require a lot of special attention, along with the reproductive rate of just one female bird can improve the lives of the people living in her household. However, in order to make this happen, we need to help these farmers find success in poultry farming by helping them keep their birds healthy through vaccination. KUKUSTAR, which was designed to give rural poultry farmers access to a vaccine for Newcastle Disease (which is 100% fatal in chicks and 60-90% fatal in adult chickens), is the first step in the right direction towards igniting a movement to fight poverty through poultry farming.

Empowering Poultry Farmers in Rural Settings

One of our KUKUSTAR representatives talks to a crowd of rural farmers on market day in Pallisa, Uganda.

In light of the upcoming 3^rd Conference on Global Animal Health entitled “Developing Global Animal Health Products to Support Food Security and Sustainability” Brentec Vaccines would like to continue to bring attention to rural farmers the work we are doing to address their animal health needs.

Earlier this year for World Veterinary Day, where the theme was Vaccination to Prevent and Protect, we wrote a piece on “Remembering Rural Poultry Farmers” because they often do not have access to vaccines or other animal health products for their animals.

In rural Africa, poultry farming is more sustainable than any other livestock and produce in most areas because the landscape, weather conditions, and food availability are more conducive to free-range poultry farming. In addition to this, the high reproductive rate and low maintenance costs, especially of chickens, make poultry farming a valuable source of income and food security, as well as a key tool for poverty alleviation.

At Brentec Vaccines Ltd, our philosophy is to do business in a manner that will transform the livelihood of rural households in Africa by delivering animal health solutions for farmers. Our first step has been the introduction of our KUKUSTAR I-2 Thermostable Newcastle Disease Vaccine in rural Uganda, which was tested and certified by the Pan African Veterinary Vaccine Centre (PANVAC), in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. The vaccine is helping these farmers protect their poultry from the killer Newcastle Disease, which wipes out hundreds of thousands of birds every year and leaves poultry farmers without an income. 

We designed KUKUSTAR with these rural farmers in mind, producing a thermostable vaccine that is easier to transport to remote areas unlike other Newcastle Disease vaccines that require a cold-chain delivery system. We also make the vaccine available in smaller doses (25-30) for farmers who may have less than 20 birds and made it easy to administer through eye drops (the vaccine is sold in a dropper for the smaller doses). The vaccine, unlike others available, can be administered to all age groups, including one-day old chicks, and can be used on chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigeons, and guinea fowl. In addition, we train farmers to administer the vaccine themselves.

By focusing on rural farmers, we are choosing to address a group that has often been overlooked when designing animal health technologies. By helping these farmers become more successful, we are doing more than just saving animals, we are transforming the livelihoods of the people in their households.

One of our representatives explains the characteristics of Newcastle Disease
and how KUKUSTAR can help these farmers. 

School girls (one of which owns poultry) visit our KUKUSTAR table to learn more about vaccination
at the 21st Source of the Nile National Agricultural and Trade Show in Jinja, Uganda. 

Life after Newcastle Disease

Farmers in Iganga discussing their experiences with KUKUSTAR in 2012.

Poultry farming is based on numbers and success rate. For a rural or commercial poultry farmer, success is calculated almost entirely by numbers. Although the size and reproductive rate of the birds carry a lot of value, the number the farmer has to sell-off or breed is much more important when it comes to having a steady household income.

When Newcastle Disease (ND) hits a farmer’s flock of birds, it can be a traumatizing experience. Whether it is a commercial farmer with 3,000 birds or a local farmer with five, the devastation is still the same. For many farmers, being hit by ND and losing their birds is enough to deter them from continuing with the practice of poultry keeping. When we ask them at trade shows or other public forums if they would start again now that we have given them the information they need and access to a reliable vaccine, some farmers still shy away from the idea of starting again; it is evident that they are still haunted by the memory of their catastrophic losses. Worse yet, these farmers must look past a common saying and misconception in some communities that if you want to be poor, you venture into poultry keeping.

With our KUKUSTAR Newcastle Disease vaccine, we give the farmers access to a dependable and effective vaccine that will help them protect their poultry from this killer disease. For the rural farmer with a few birds, we offer droppers of the ready-made vaccine, sold in doses of 25-30 (one dose per bird). For the commercial farmer, we offer vials of 500 doses that must be reconstituted using spring water and then administered through drinking water.

If administered the way we designed it, which is through a single drop in one eye every three months, this vaccine gives the farmer a renewed confidence that each of their birds has been vaccinated; something they can do on their own or with the help of others. Administration through drinking water or through aerosol is more costly because it requires frequent repetition to make sure every bird has had access to its dose of the vaccine.

We need to encourage the farmers who have left the practice to return to poultry farming as a source of income. But the only way we can encourage them to do so is by showing them that they can protect their birds with a vaccine that works and is accessible.  Some of the farmers that lost their birds to ND had already vaccinated them before they died. The most likely reason is that they had used a heat-liable vaccine, which has a two-hour efficacy window at room temperature after reconstitution, and if it had fallen outside that time frame without a cooling system during delivery in the field, then any dose administered would have been ineffective. Other reasons also include, late vaccination (the birds were already sick), improper administration, and over-dilution during reconstitution of the vaccine.

Our KUKUSTAR ND vaccine is thermostable and can last for three days at room temperature without losing efficacy, which helps address the challenge of a cold-chain delivery system. In addition to this, as part of our quality assurance, we have chosen to open our own KUKUSTAR shops where farmers can buy the vaccine directly in order to ensure the quality and proper use of our vaccine up to the farmer level.

Trust is everything if we want to get these farmers back into poultry keeping, so we are choosing to lead by example and show them that the vaccine does work. We want them to know that we are taking their concerns and negative experiences seriously, and that we can make a difference.