We might never solve the riddle of the chicken of the egg – but what we can be sure of is that you can have either and maintain a sustainable source of nutrition. Recently, our newly elected Prime Minister suggested that giving chickens or eggs to marginalized families can help with poverty alleviation – and provide a rich source of protein.
Starting a small-scale poultry breeding farm is relatively cheap, and requires much less resources compared to other types of livestock or agricultural farming. This is one of the reasons why it came up so often in conversations with the communities of Gilgit – it was by far the most popular idea.
Another reason this idea was so popular was that last year, Gilgit was hit with bird flu that wiped out almost all the poultry. The whole region, including government farms, had suffered greatly due to this epidemic – and they wanted restart poultry breeding again.
After talking to some poultry experts, we decided that a flock consisting of four egg laying hens and one rooster would be given to each family so they can rebuild and grow their chicken businesses.
Abdul Khaliq, whose chickens died due to bird flu, was so excited for this idea that a few days later he bought a few more chickens from his own money. Now, he’s set up a small commercial poultry farm on his land. Like all other parents who received these flocks, he has vowed to feed the eggs and meat to his children, but also wants to make it a source of income.
He told us excitedly, “I had been trying to set up this business forever and with your initial investment, I am now able to set it up.”
Meet Zain! 
Hello Hello! I work for Alight Pakistan with the Program Development Team as an Associate. I have a deep interest in poverty alleviation and empowerment programs that can help lift people up, and I was so pleased to be able to help compelte some of these wonderful projects in Gilgit as part of Changemakers team. I am very excited to share these stories and the beauty of Gilgit with you!
