Family Assistance Chicken Project

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The goal of the Family Assistance Chicken Project is to promote reconciliation and strengthen multi-ethnic communities through practical assistance that encourages people to work together. The immediate and practical outcome of the project is to give families the opportunity to supplement their income by raising chickens.

The project is being implemented in the multi-ethnic village of Vidakova Njiva that has Serbian Orthodox, Muslim, and Catholic families. Vidakova Njiva is part of the Zvornik municipality in eastern Bosnia along the Drina river. Zvornik was the site of some of the worst horrors of the war in Bosnia and is therefore a focus of our current reconciliation projects.

The project is being implemented in partnership with the women’s organization “Prijateljice”  dedicated to helping women recover from the war and rebuild their lives. Prijateljice has a main office in Tuzla and has satellite clubs in several returnee villages including Vidakova Njiva.

The first step in the project is to give each and every woman in Prijateljice’s Vidakova Njiva club (45 members)  a certificate entitling the holder of the certificate to 20 chicks, 80 kg of chicken food, and two chicken feeders. Each woman is entirely free to do whatever she wishes with the certificate. She can receive and raise 20 chicks. She can work with other women as a team. She can give the certificate to someone else.

To encourage reinvestment, 60 days after the first delivery of chicks the holder of a certificate is entitled to 10 chicks and 40kg of chicken food free if they buy 20 or more chicks and 80kg or more of chicken food. (Since through this program they are able to buy directly from the regional wholesaler of chicks and food, the prices are significantly lower than any local prices. It takes approximately 45 to 50 days to raise chickens.)

To encourage further reinvestment, 60 days after the second delivery, the holder of the certificate is entitled to 10 chicks and 40kg of chicken food if they buy 30 or more chicks and 120kg or more of chicken food.

Chickens are delivered on the first Friday or Saturday of each month. The project has proven a successful model for encouraging local investment. For example, with the April 8 2006 delivery, BILD purchased approximately $850 of chicks and chicken food; the Vidakova Njiva women collectively purchased approximately $1,750 of chicks and chicken food . 

The practicality of the project has strong potential to attract more participants thereby helping more families become self-reliant while promoting reconciliation and building productive community.

For updates on the chicken project, contact Christopher Bragdon at chris@bild-bih.org or Emina Jasarevic at emina@bild-bih.org .