Integrated household poultry-vegetable farming

Vegetable-poultry integration is considered a way to bolster food security and nutrition, and improve livelihoods. Vegetable farming provides critical micronutrients and fibre for diets, in addition poultry provides animal protein and fatty acids. Both can offer economic benefits like side income, and offer nutritional benefits at relatively little cost. When integrated, elements of poultry and vegetable farming can beneficially interact to create a greater return on investment. For instance, poultry manure acts as fertilizer for vegetables while vegetable residues provide poultry feed. Through trainings and extension services, communities can become more aware of the improvements that integration offers, and of how to go about vegetable-poultry integration. Policies that help to empower women, especially in developing countries where women make up a majority of the poultry sector, can also assist efforts to scale up vegetable-poultry integration.