Lots and Lots of Kukhuraa (Chicken!)

The past week I've really started getting into my work, tracking down the supply chain of backyard chickens. Kumar recruited his cousin Sandesh to translate for me. Sandesh is 17 and goes to school in Kathmandu, but he is home in Jhapa for a couple weeks. His English is spectacular, and he's been amazing help!! 

What I've learned: These value chains are among primitive markets that are oftentimes difficult to track. There is no fixed system, as I suspected. The non-fixed collector goes around in the villages to buy as many full grown chickens as he can find. For households, they are able to sell every 3-4 months, and all households I've spoken with so far have said their supply is not enough to meet the collector's demand. The collector either takes it straight to market and sells the chicken live to families himself or sells to butchers who dress and sell the chickens. 

If markets or butchers cannot sell all the chickens, they oftentimes sell to local hotels, with whom they have 'contracts.' I talked to two hotels, and again, it's a very informal system to obtain the chicken. The market vendor or butcher comes to the hotel almost daily to sell a fraction of what he has left from market that day. The hotels serve both backyard chicken and broiler chicken (broiler is a small, white, more commercialized chicken...different taste, too). The customer does not choose what type of chicken he or she is eating--the cooks just serve what they have, I suppose! 

There is also a middleman who collects from the villages and transports live chickens to Kathmandu, which is about a 12-hour bus ride. Supplying to Kathmandu is obviously more complex, seeing as the middleman has to worry about storing, transporting, and feeding the chicks so that they don't lose weight. Oftentimes by the time they chickens reach KTM they have already lost 100-200 grams. 

We visited a wholesale vet supply store and interviewed two Animal Community Health Workers (ACHW) at vaccines supply shops in the villages. Below, this woman and her husband have a shop to sell vaccines in the villages. This is their primary source of income. She has received training by Heifer! I plan to talk to a vet or two in the next couple of days as well as government entities in charge of chicken regulations. 

Upon leaving the villages yesterday we realized we were stuck there due to rain in the mountains flooding the river. There is a bridge half-built in this area, but there is no plan or timeline for it to to be completed. Sandesh said we could just wait it. One brave soul tried to cross on his motor bike but when he reached the other side his bike wouldn't start. You can imagine how often this happens during monsoon season! After about an hour and a half the current lessened and people started sloshing through pushing their bikes. Sandesh and I got brave and soaked and made it across! 

As for non-project related things, I've enjoyed spending time with my host family and the locals! There is a LOT of down time, so I've started playing solitaire with actual playing cards, and I'm on my last book that I packed. Yasoda (and everyone!) has been trying to teach me Nepali. I was sick for a few days, but thankfully cipro works like a pro! I probably should not have eaten that street food served on a newspaper with silverware they rinse off and share with every customer. Lesson learned! 

To close, here is a shot of the beautiful mountains seen from the villages! Namaste!