Village chickens enhance food security and income for vulnerable groups along the urban-rural gradient, a scoping review

Abstract

Abstract A sustainable and healthy food system refers to meeting food and nutrition security and environmental welfare for all, with no cost to future generations. Village chickens promote sustainable and healthy food systems through recycling home-kitchen waste into edible protein in the form of meat and eggs. The objective of the study was to assess the role of village chickens in food security and income for vulnerable groups along a rural-urban gradient. The review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles ( n = 3030) showing how village chickens enhance food security and income for vulnerable groups were identified from the Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases. A total of 87 articles, representing all covered sections, were included. Village chickens contribute 4% of meat and 14% of global egg production. Village chickens are mainly managed by women and children. Household dietary diversity score increased with increasing village chicken flock sizes. Households that owned larger flock sizes had a higher mean dietary diversity score (7.5) compared to those with small flocks (5.5). Keeping village chickens provides livelihood security and income opportunities, particularly for unemployed women and the elderly. Diseases are a common challenge affecting village chicken production across the urban-rural gradient. Village chicken production is becoming increasingly important in peri-urban and urban settings due to rising food demand. Interventions to support local markets for village chickens and to optimize the intake of village chicken meat and eggs by vulnerable groups are required.