Bird roles in small-scale poultry production: the case of a rural community in Hidalgo, Mexico

In Mexico, various studies emphasize that the importance of small-scale poultry farming in the rural setting falls on two of the roles assigned to poultry: 1) Contribution to food security and 2) Generation of economic income. Few studies identify and describe the complementary functions of poultry in small-scale production systems and how these species contribute to the welfare of the producing family. In this study, was identified and analyzed the roles assigned by the producing families to the poultry species in the 26 bird production units, out of 29, in the rural community of La Cuchilla, Hidalgo, Mexico. It was found that poultry could be assigned six different functions, not mutually exclusive: nutritional (26.9 %), environmental (24.4 %), cultural (17.9 %), economic (16.7 %), social (11.5 %), and recreational (2.6 %). Each one of these roles contributed to the family welfare in five different spheres: food security, availability of economic resources, strengthening of social relationships, link to the market, and transmission of vernacular knowledge. This study concludes that poultry can have multiple roles beyond their contribution to food security (nutritional role) and economic resources (economic role). These roles can be used as strategies by the producers to achieve family welfare in five different spheres. Comprehensively understanding the concept of role is essential to design development strategies based on the production aims and logic of the producing family.