A study was conducted on 262 indigenous poultry farmers in Rwanda to assess the current status of low cost village poultry production. Majority of the respondents were male (59%) mainly (70.2%) located in urban and Per-urban areas. The majority (56.9%) had primary education and kept the dwarf type (53.5%) followed by the long legged type (26.9%). Stocking birds were mainly sourced from Neighbors (50.8%) and markets (30%). Free scavenging (67.4%) predominated. Disease management lagged as 41.4% farmers never treated birds and 37.2% used indigenous knowledge. Ectoparasitosis (35.2%) and Diarrhea (34.3%) were the main disease conditions cited. Only 15.7% of farmers reported disease outbreak to veterinarians. Clutch size ranged from 5 to 18 with mean of 13 ± 2 and hen maturity age averaged 7± 2.1 month. Farmers reported periodic high morbidity and mortality among poultry flocks with resultant low productivity and profitability. Predators (42%), diseases (23%), lack of credit (20%) were the main challenges stated.

Approximately 752 million of the world's poor keep livestock to produce food, generate income, and build assets. Women represent two-thirds (~400 million people) of low-income livestock keepers. Infectious diseases are a major issue in preventing livestock keepers from optimizing production earnings and improving food security. In Rwanda, highly contagious yet preventable diseases that affect animals that women manage, such as Rift Valley fever in goats and Newcastle disease in chickens have a high-mortality rate and can devastate their herds. Women are disproportionately affected because they bear primary responsibility for goats and chickens. These diseases are preventable through vaccination, but smallholder women farmers rarely benefit from livestock vaccines. Social norms and entrenched cultural stereotypes limit women's confidence and decision-making and restrict their access to resources and information. Women smallholder farmers find that there is little support for the small livestock they manage, because of the official preference given to cattle. They are also challenged by limited availability of livestock vaccines due to lack of a cold chain, inadequate extension, and veterinary services, especially for goats and chickens, and unreliable structures for vaccine delivery. To identify opportunities for women's engagement in the livestock vaccine value chain (LVVC) and reduce their barriers to accessing and using livestock vaccines, we used Outcome Mapping, a stakeholder engagement tool, and the Gender Equality Continuum Tool to classify and engage critical partners in the LVVC. We analyzed each critical partner's capacities, incentives, and drivers for engagement with women, challenges and barriers that hinder their support for women farmers, opportunities at systemic and programmatic levels for women's participation and benefit in the LVVC, and the gender capacities and perceptions of different stakeholders. Enhanced positioning and visibility of women in the LVVC can occur through a systemic engagement of all stakeholders, and recognition of the roles that women play. Women smallholder farmer involvement when determining and shaping the potential entry-points is critical to ensure support for their existing responsibilities in family food security, and future opportunities for generating income. Strengthening gender capacities of LVVC stakeholders, addressing identified barriers, and building on existing opportunities can increase women's participation in the LVVC.

Pig production systems in Rwanda are not well understood to enable effective exploitation of their potential for rural poverty alleviation and human nutrition. A study was therefore conducted to characterize the current status of pig production systems in Rwanda. Questionnaires were administered to 179 semi-intensive and intensive pig farmers randomly selected at sector level. Data were processed in statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16. Most pig houses were semi-permanent (64.8%). Farm records were rarely (38%) kept. Reproduction was only by natural mating. European pig breeds and their crosses predominated. Farmers purchased feedstuffs for mixing at farm level with maize bran as the main basal feedstuff (64.4%). Disinfectants were rarely (23%) used in cleaning sties. The most disease condition commonly reported were piglet scours (25.3%), piglet anaemia (20.9%), swine respiratory disorders (18.8%), skin disorders (18.5%) and worm infestations (16.5%). Pigs were sold at all stages of maturity. Litter size averaged 7.2 ± 2.2 and pre-weaning mortality was 12.5%. Most farmers (66.8%) reported lack of affordable quality feeds followed by lack of breeding stock (43.5%), disease control (38.2%), marketing (37.4%) and availability of credit (26.9%) to be the main challenges. Predictive modelling shows that by use of small technologies and improved management interventions net profit/sow could be greatly increased by 203%.