Improving the welfare of chickens in transportation in Malawi 

Year: 2025

Madeline Nyamwanza 
Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA), Malawi 

Research, Travel & Training Grant - £5,000

Malawi consumes an estimated 60 million chickens annually. Across Lilongwe, thousands are transported daily by bicycle, most tied by their legs and hung upside down from handlebars for distances of up to 58 kilometres. A 2022 LSPCA survey found that up to 50 chickens are transported per trip, with at least 10% dying from poor handling, overloading and heat exposure. Over half of vendors provide no food or water while chickens await sale. The practice is deeply normalised and causes significant suffering, including broken wings, broken legs, and slow, painful deaths. LSPCA, in partnership with the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA), has been working to change this through targeted vendor training, artisan skill-building and the introduction of welfare-friendly bamboo transport crates developed in collaboration with the Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development (DAHLD).

This project builds directly on the previous phase, implemented jointly by LSPCA and the HSA, in which 350 vendors were trained and 350 bamboo crates were produced and distributed across Lilongwe. In this follow-up project, implementation continued under tighter budget constraints and increased production costs. As a result, emphasis shifted toward training, with a smaller number of crates (40 crates) produced and distributed. A total of 200 vendors across 10 market locations participated in training sessions held directly in the markets where they operate. Five large chicken farmers and distributors were also engaged to extend the conversation into commercial supply chains. These engagements, however, yielded limited buy-in. Large-scale farmers and distributors are primarily focused on business efficiency and volume, and animal welfare was not a priority within their current operations. This points to the limits of awareness-based approaches at the commercial level, where change is unlikely without regulatory requirements or clear financial incentives.

Training sessions for vendors were carried out, including the Five Animal Freedoms, chicken behaviour, natural needs and common welfare problems arising from poor handling and transport, including stress, injury and illness. Vendors were also educated on animal welfare law and their legal responsibilities as handlers and sellers. A significant portion of each session focused on the practical use of chicken-friendly crates: how to load and secure birds, how to maintain crates, and how improved transport methods reduce injury and mortality. Practical demonstrations allowed vendors to compare welfare-friendly methods directly with their current practices, and engagement with farmers and distributors opened new dialogue on welfare within commercial supply chains.

Across the vendors engaged over both phases of this project, there is clear evidence that the welfare message has genuinely taken hold. Vendors who participated in training can articulate the link between transport practices and the condition and survival of birds, and field observations confirm improved awareness and handling in day-to-day operations. Perhaps the strongest sign of this is the emergence of vendor-made crates: during this reporting period, LSPCA observed and photographed several versions of crates that vendors had built or adapted themselves, independently and without any distribution from the project. This is meaningful evidence of genuine behaviour change: vendors investing their own effort and resources into welfare-friendly transport because they recognise its value.

Field follow-ups revealed an important and honest finding: of the 350 crates distributed in the previous phase, only approximately 80 are currently in consistent use. When asked, many vendors cited durability issues: bamboo crates, while renewable and cost-effective, are subject to daily wear and break down over time under regular use and exposure to varying weather conditions. Observations on the ground also point to an additional, harder-to-solve reason. Crates limit the number of chickens a vendor can carry at any one time and slow down their movement through the market. Tying birds to bicycle handlebars allows vendors to carry more birds, more quickly, with less effort – but with severe animal welfare consequences. In the absence of consistent oversight and enforcement by relevant authorities, the economic pressure to maximise loads consistently outweighs welfare considerations. This is not simply a knowledge or attitude problem; it is a behaviour driven by practical and financial incentives that will persist without external accountability and enforcement mechanisms in place.

This project demonstrates that change is possible, even at small scale. But the evidence also shows that LSPCA and the HSA cannot solve inhumane chicken transport in Malawi through training and crate distribution alone. Sustained change requires broader advocacy, active enforcement by government and market authorities, and a coordinated effort across multiple stakeholders to make welfare-friendly practices the norm rather than the exception. The work done through this partnership has generated valuable evidence and insight, and LSPCA is committed to using it to make the case for that larger effort.