Analysis of the Philippine Chicken Industry: Commercial versus Backyard Sectors

The chicken industry in the Philippines has diverse components. The commercial sector is characterized by large-scale, industrialized production systems of broilers and layers of exotic hybrids. On the other hand, the backyard sector is made up of many smallholders who keep a few native or crossbred chickens mainly for their own consumption. The backyard sector is worth a separate investigation because it differs from the commercial sector in terms of production and marketing issues and has, so far, received less attention from researchers and policymakers. This paper identifies key issues and provides policy implications for both sectors. In the main, the commercial sector faces serious threats from global competition and its future depends largely on access to cheap inputs and improvements in production and marketing efficiency. Although not yet threatened by trade liberalization, the backyard sector suffers from low productivity and high mortality rates because of lack of technical know-how and access to key inputs. Its future depends on identifying and removing constraints to subsistence backyard production.