Hanitra’s Story
Ten years ago she set poultry farming aside and didn't look back... until January 2023.
Rahantamalala Hanitriniaina Albertine, known to everyone as Hanitra, is 38 years old, a mother of five, married and lives in Vidia, a village in the municiplality of Vohitsaoka.
No stranger to poultry farming, she had tried it multiple times. But without shelter, vaccinations and knowledge on how to properly raise them, her chickens roamed freely around the village, vulnerable to catching deadly diseases.
Flock after flock was lost this way, until the last of her resolve had been drained. The money she had hoped for never came, and the consequences rippled through her personal life as she struggled to feed her family, provide healthcare for her children and support their education. Hanitra was called into school for late payments more times than she cares to count.
Ten years ago she set poultry farming aside and didn't look back...until January 2023.
After joining our Akoho Gasy project, delivered in partnership with Shivia, she modernised her farm by building a poultry yard and coop and used the provided vegetable seeds to grow feed for her birds and additional food for her family.
Hanitra strictly followed the treatment and vaccination schedule, and didn’t hesitate to contact our field agents herself to make sure she always had the necessary medicines. From just two hens and a rooster, she raised 166 chickens over the course of a year, selling 121 of them and raising her annual income from poultry and vegetables to over 3,000,000 ariary.
She can now pay her children's school fees, buy school supplies and access healthcare. And when her eldest daughter gave birth, Hanitra covered the entire childbirth kit herself — something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
"The project restored my pride as a mother. My children can study, and even when the lack of rain causes the rice harvest to fail, my chickens ensure we have food."
– Hanitra
2025 brought severe drought to the region, causing many rice harvests to fail. But the eggs, meat and the income from poultry sales meant that the family never ran out of food. And even when neighbours, perhaps envious of her success, attempted to poison her flock, she carried on in good spirits.
Today, Hanitra is a role model and leader for other farmers in Vidia, advising and guiding them in their own poultry rearing, supporting her community in moving towards greater food security and stable incomes.
