Can one chicken make a difference to a child's health?

The Boma

In 2014 a survey found that a quarter of children under 5 in Siaya County, western Kenya, were stunted. Stunting creates lifelong, chronic health issues and worse mental development. Better nutrition can help avoid stunting, but can be a struggle for families that are already lacking money, resources and access to support.
What if there was a way to empower families by improving a simple resource they already have? Such as chickens, a small but ubiquitous livestock in rural communities. But proving this is not so easy. In our new episode of The Boma, we dive into the questions and answers to see if there really is a link between poultry and children's health.
The study this episode reports on was a finalist for the 2022 Cozzarelli Prize, an award that recognizes outstanding contributions to the scientific disciplines represented by the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more:

• About Siaya County
• Newcastle disease is the main cause of mortality in rural chicken flocks
• 7.5 million Kenyans in rural communities live on less than USD 2 a day
• Vaccinating chickens against Newcastle disease improves the growth of children in rural Kenyan communities
• The 2022 Cozzarelli Prize

Scripted by Annabel Slater, Digital Media Specialist at ILRI.

Chapters

1. Can one chicken make a difference to a child's health? (00:00:00)

2. A village in Siaya County, west Kenya (00:01:55)

3. Why can't we just give people more chickens? (00:04:07)

4. What's Newcastle disease? (00:05:50)

5. Why linking livestock to children's health is hard (00:08:54)

6. What did the study do? (00:10:34)

7. Why chickens can have huge impact for rural communities (00:12:32)

8. What next? (00:16:58)