Poultry Self-Sufficiency Project: A Social Innovation for Empowering Residents of Farahzad and Khavarshahr

The Poultry Self-Sufficiency Project is one of the initiatives implemented by the Salam Social Innovation Center to promote the economic and social empowerment of residents in marginalized areas of Tehran. The project was carried out in Farahzad and Khavarshahr using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, in which local residents were not viewed merely as recipients of aid, but as key actors in the process of change.

The main objective of the project was to create a sustainable pathway to employment for low-income and unskilled individuals and to help break the cycle of poverty by mobilizing the capacities and resources available within the local community.

The Challenge

Field investigations in Farahzad and Khavarshahr showed that some residents were facing a combination of interconnected challenges, including poverty, unemployment, limited skills, restricted access to economic opportunities, and dependency on charitable support.

The central question of the project was therefore how to move beyond short-term assistance and create a mechanism through which families could generate their own income and actively participate in improving their living conditions.

Within this project, empowerment was understood as providing people with initial resources and training, strengthening their agency, and enabling outcomes that went beyond income generation, including greater social participation, improved self-confidence, and stronger connections with other community actors.

The Solution: Turning Aid into an Economic Activity

After exploring different options with the participation of local residents, the breeding of native chickens and quails and the production of eggs was selected as a feasible solution.

Families received birds as initial productive assets and were supported in raising them and selling the eggs as a source of income.

The role of the Salam Social Innovation Center went far beyond simply providing birds. The Center acted as a social innovation facilitator, supporting the process from problem identification and solution design to training, accompanying beneficiary families, monitoring implementation, connecting producers with consumers, and helping establish a market for the products.

The initiative was first implemented on a pilot scale. After positive initial results were observed, the number of birds distributed to participating families was increased.