If you were living on $2 a day, what would you do to improve your life?
That’s a real question for the nearly 1 billion people living in extreme poverty today. There’s no single right answer, of course, and poverty looks different in different places. But through my work with the foundation, I’ve met many people in poor countries who raise chickens, and I have learned a lot about the ins and outs of owning these birds. (As a city boy from Seattle, I had a lot to learn!) It’s pretty clear to me that just about anyone who’s living in extreme poverty is better off if they have chickens.
In fact, if I were in their shoes, that’s what I would do—I would raise chickens.
Here’s why:
- They are easy and inexpensive to take care of. Many breeds can eat whatever they find on the ground (although it’s better if you can feed them, because they’ll grow faster). Hens need some kind of shelter where they can nest, and as your flock grows, you might want some wood and wire to make a coop. Finally, chickens need a few vaccines. The one that prevents the deadly Newcastle disease costs less than 20 cents.
- They’re a good investment. Suppose a new farmer starts with five hens. One of her neighbors owns a rooster to fertilize the hens’ eggs. After three months, she can have a flock of 40 chicks. Eventually, with a sale price of $5 per chicken—which is typical in West Africa—she can earn more than $1,000 a year, versus the extreme-poverty line of about $700 a year.
- They help keep children healthy. Malnutrition kills more than 3.1 million children a year. Although eating more eggs—which are rich in protein and other nutrients—can help fight malnutrition, many farmers with small flocks find that it’s more economical to let the eggs hatch, sell the chicks, and use the money to buy nutritious food. But if a farmer’s flock is big enough to give her extra eggs, or if she ends up with a few broken ones, she may decide to cook them for her family.
- They empower women. Because chickens are small and typically stay close to home, many cultures regard them as a woman’s animal, in contrast to larger livestock like goats or cows. Women who sell chickens are likely to reinvest the profits in their families.
It sounds funny , but now I can safely say that I am delighted by the chickens .
What do you think about the initiative of the richest man on the planet? Will the chicken to make all rich and successful ?
In Tanzania almost everyone owns some chickens and even breed pidgeons in their small back yards. . Problem is they do not get much food so they all very skinny and they exercise a lot so they tough as nails to eat.
slow cook em! Boil em like a corned beef which was the peasants cut as it it very tough, unless you boil it for hours! Here's one of my posts for your oggling pleasure Blessed Be! https://steemit.com/fun/@kalaylah77/our-mr-potato-head-and-his-dark-controversial-past
thanks bill gates
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And good post :D
Pretty much what your underlying message is...is a primal instinct to survive. Something that has been lost to several varying degrees of offspring over the past 20 years or so. So many of today's youth are missing that spark, the determination to get up off their asses and change their situation thus changing the world around them. Thanx for igniting mine today now I know what I'm going to write about. Here's a link to one of my posts for your pleasure Blessed Be! https://steemit.com/fun/@kalaylah77/our-mr-potato-head-and-his-dark-controversial-past
Well you know what they say, eat mor chikin.
That aside, though, it's a surprisingly developed stance, which makes me wonder if he's thought about this before. In addition, I appreciate the core concepts he employs - providing for his family first, but then also using the same strategies to grow their power. In fact, you could compare it to steemit, where everyone's scraping by at first, but if you get good content going, then you can make big gains. All it takes is a few chickens.
With 2$ a day is hard to believe someone could build a hen and buy the chicken, corn, etc
There is where Mr.Gates enter, you can do if someone lend it to you. Any livestock would work, if you have a pond or a well fish farming is even better.
This is creative, humorous, and also incredibly logical. My family owns six chickens, and most of them lay two eggs a day. We've never had to buy eggs, and even saving such a little expense such as a carton of eggs has proven to go a long way.