Through a grant received by the The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS) project from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)*, the Harris Lab, alongside Dr. Ayse Ercumen and The Water Trust, successfully conducted a randomized-controlled trial of a poultry management training aimed at improving hygienic poultry management practices, reducing overall household exposure to poultry fecal contamination, and improving child health outcomes. From the Masindi and Kiryandongo Districts of Uganda, 1305 households were enrolled in this study and 664 took part in the poultry management training. The original plan focused on having coaching visits by The Water Trust take place from February 2020-May 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many pieces of the project needed to pivot rapidly. Many coaching visits were moved to over the phone, poultry loans were delayed, and the Harris Lab was prevented from setting up a field lab to manage environmental sampling, resulting in new methods being used by The Water Trust staff. Overall, 1340 people participated in a one-day triggering exercise focused on how children and chickens interacts, and 1658 people attended at least one day of the three-day poultry training session. Future analysis and results are forthcoming, including evaluation of many new key animal feces management and risk perception indicators!
Chickens outside of a typical household in the Masindi district of Uganda. Photo Credit: Chris Prottas
The Water Trust office in Masindi, Uganda. Photo Credit: Jeremy Lowe
*This study is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this post are the sole responsibility of Jeremy Lowe and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.