Teaching Holistic Poultry Management in Guatemala

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Alexis selecting local herbs such as oregano, mint, peppermint, and rosemary at a local plant nursery. 
Huehuetenango is the department with the highest levels of malnutrition in Guatemala due to several factors, such as climate change, migration, drug cartels, pests and diseases, etc. Project Concern International –PCI-, a global development organization, is carrying out various projects and activities in vulnerable communities to improve the livelihoods and resilience of its inhabitants.

PCI’s project “ANIMO” uses a comprehensive package of cash transfers, training, and capacity building to reduce malnutrition, improve health and increase income. To support this project, a F2F volunteer trained technicians and smallholder farmers on ways to increase the productivity and quality of their domestic chickens.

Alexis Koefoed, owner of Soul Food Farm, traveled to Guatemala in March 2020 for two weeks to deliver several theoretical and hands-on training sessions. Through hard work, she has managed to build one of the most successful pastured chicken and egg farms in Northern California.

Alexis explaining how to make tea from local herbs that contain antibiotic and antiviral properties.  
She shared her method of Holistic Poultry Management and expertise in housing and rotational systems with the farmers and taught them techniques and practices for both pastured meat birds and layers that are animal welfare approved. She focused on the welfare of animals at a minimum cost for families so that animal feed does not compete with their diet and they can use local and low-cost resources.

Her training included daily farm management, feed intake, plant supplementation, water intake needs based on humid/hot locations, and predator and disease controls. Most importantly, she promoted holistic and natural approaches as much as possible when raising pastured animals to become successful farmers.

Thanks to Alexis’ support, vulnerable farmers in Huehuetenango are better prepared to improve the breeding capacity and health of their chickens and in this way improve their livelihoods. 

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