Coping Strategies of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Affected Small Poultry Farmers of Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract

A survey research was conducted in 2012 to assess the coping strategies of poultry in Gazipur district of Bangladesh. Using purposive and stratified random sampling technique a total of 100 poultry farmers comprising of 50 farmers from each upazilas of Sadar and Sripur of the same district were selected. Descriptive analytical method was done to find out the coping strategies of the selected farmers. A mixed coping response was found to be adopted by poultry farmers at the onset of HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) outbreaks. The adoption of asset divestment and farm closure were found to be occurred at later stages of the crisis. The incidence of decreasing the number of farmers needing to adopt each coping strategy over time indicates that with increased institutional response to the HPAI outbreaks, the livelihood impact of the crisis continues to decrease over time. Feedback was found that in the event of future disease outbreaks, poultry farmers are more likely to respond with desperation in the absence of effective intervention mechanisms. Likewise, in view of resource constraints, the identification of regional and sectorial differences in livelihood impacts is expected to inform the design of targeted HPAI impact reduction policies. Meanwhile, our findings can only be treated as an explorative basis for further investigation.

Keywords: Highly pathogenic avian influenza, risk coping, institutional response