Socio-economic impact of free range local chickens vaccinated against newcastle disease in rural community of Mvomero district, Morogoro region

Improving free range local chicken (FRLC) production through vaccinating against Newcastle disease (ND) at the village level is an important component in improving socio-economies of the rural communities in Tanzania. This study assessed the socio- economic impact of FRLC vaccinated against ND in rural communities of Mvomero District. The Primary data were gathered from a sample of 181 respondents from Sangasanga, Changarawe, Tangeni, Kimambila, Lubungo, Mafuru and Vikenge. The primary data from the semi-structured questionnaire were analysed using SPSS 12.0 and descriptive statistics namely frequencies and percentage were used in explaining the data collected from the respondents. The survey findings reveal that on average, since 2007 to 2009 each household kept 23 FRLC and more than half 56.3 % of the respondents earned less than 50 000 Tsh through selling of FRLC and their products. Moreover, whereas women seemed to be more responsible 56.4 % in caring of the FRLC and making decision on selling of the eggs 52.9 %, men slightly dominated 35.6 % in making decision about the selling of live FRLC. In contrast, women were the ones responsible for keeping the income earned from selling FRLC and its products. Furthermore, majority of the respondents 82.9 % indicated that ND vaccination worked better than indigenous herbs whereas only 0.6 % had a negative attitude towards ND vaccines. The findings also reveal that the sustainability of the ND vaccination exercise was attained through formation of groups of the FRLC keepers and cost sharing for ND vaccines. The findings suggest that there is a need for mass education on the epidemiology and socio-economic implication of ND for the households