BASEDA chicken vaccination in Malawi

Food security is a critical element of resilience in disaster prone communities. However, chickens across southern Africa are highly vulnerable to Newcastle Disease, a blight that can destroy between 30% and 90% of chicken flocks in any given outbreak. The livelihood of small-scale farmers is to be substantially improved through a comprehensive vaccination program targeting Newcastle Disease in chickens.

The JTI Foundation is funding the program in full with its new partner BASEDA, a Malawian NGO supporting the delivery of vaccination services through a network of Community Vaccinators who operate as micro-entrepreneurs and who are organized in associations.

55,000 farming households are expected to benefit from the vaccination program in its second year, while 600 Community Vaccinators will also benefit from improved livelihoods. Disaster resilience will be increased by scaling-up an existing poultry vaccination program targeting this particular disease. Chicken raising is anticipated to become a profitable activity through the provision of vaccination services in target areas. New Community Vaccinators will be selected, trained and equipped.

The program is managed by BASEDA taking over from Inter Aide. Inter Aide is a French NGO and was a former partner to the Foundation and was managing the program in its first phase. BASEDA is specialized in the development of basic humanitarian services in rural areas. The organization has extensive experience of working with local communities to develop programs using social enterprise models and worked in both the public and private sector and in supply chain management. BASEDA is targeting a 30% increase in the number of vaccinations performed approx. 1,820,000 in Year 2 over a current baseline of 1,400,000 vaccinations.