Bird markets and the social and cultural impact of avian flu.

The short article below highlights the cultural and historical threads that are intertwined with efforts to combat the spread of avian flu in Hong Kong. Bird flu silences once bustling Hong Kong songbird market: http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/06/25/bird_flu_silences_once_bustling_hong_kong_songbird_market/

As organizations such as CARE work to encourage governments to prepare effectively for avian flu, it is important to make marginalized groups and small scale farmers a priority within government preparedness plans. FAO highlight some of the long term impacts and consequences of restructuring the poultry sector in Asia and South East Asia. These include:

• More concentrated markets dominated by few large poultry producers
• Poultry production zones with hygiene and bio-security criteria for participation
• Diminishing numbers of wet markets, with the trend to move these out of urban areas.
• Tougher inspections to gain production/trading licenses
• Improved fencing and housing of poultry.

Such restructuring, although necessary to prevent the outbreaks of H5N1 has the potential to jeopardize the livelihoods of small scale farmers and backyard poultry raisers as they are pushed out of the poultry sector. NGOs and similar organizations can play a role in supporting such communities to improve their overall poultry production and standards of bio security. They can also advocate for government prevention measures that are suitable to small scale farmers and ensure the protection of their livelihoods.

The table below, taken from the same FAO document, also provides some convincing data to support our focus upon decreasing the vulnerability of the backyard poultry raisers:

Poultry systems in five South East Asian countries affected by HPAI in 2003-5
Country	Industrial	Large commercial	Small commercial	Backyard
Cambodia		<>	<>	99.9% farms, 90% poultry
Indonesia	3.5 % poultry, export & national consumption	21.2% poultry	11.8% poultry	63.4% poultry
Lao PDR		Small	10% poultry	90% poultry
Thailand	70% production export important	20% production	10% production, 98+% producers
Vietnam	Small	20-25% production, few producers	10-15% production, few producers	65% production possibly 70% of poultry
Source: Rushton et al (forthcoming)

Source: FAO Anni McLeod: Economic and Social Impacts of Avian Influenza: http://www.hewsweb.org/downloads/avian_flu/docs/pdf/economicimpacts.pdf