ACGG on-farm study informed Consent form

PROJECT TITLE: African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG):A program for accessing, testing, adapting, and catalyzing public-private partnerships for multiplying and making available well-adapted low-input chickens for productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

1)INTRODUCTION

ACGG is a BILL & MELINDA GATES Foundation, Livestock and Fish CRP, and Koepon Foundation funded project with principal partners in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and the Netherlands.The aim of the project is to test high-producing, farmer-preferred chicken strains for on-farm under semi-scavenging management conditions. Once farmer preferred strains are selected, through public-private partnerships it will help to increase smallholder chicken production and productivity growth as a pathway out of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. You are one of the farmers selected to take part in this on-farm research study and you have been selected randomly from a list of chicken keeping households in the village. This consent form tells you why this research study is being done, what will happen in the research study, and possible risks and benefits to you. If there is anything you do not understand, please ask and take whatever time you need to discuss the study with your family members or anyone else you wish to. Then you can decide if you wantto participate in this on-farm research or not. In this on-farm research study, we are testing and making available high-producing, farmer-preferred genotypes of chicken strains to increase smallholder chicken productivity.

2)WHAT IS INVOLVED IN THE STUDY

If you decide to be one of the farmers and participate in this on-farm research you will be given 30 chickensfor at least42 days of age of a randomlyallocated strain in exchange for your engagement in this study. You also have to be aware that other households in the same village may receive the same strain of chicken as you or a different strain of chicken. If you choose to participate in this study, you will be asked to do the following for the on-farm study:

  1. Make available apoultry shed or night shelter for the experimental chickens. If an adequate night shelter exists prior to the launch of the study in your household, it is not necessary for you to build a new one;
  2. You need to be prepared to accept and maintainthe strain which will be allocated randomly to you even if it’s not your preferred strain;
  3. You have to be willing to get your existing household flock birds who are +/- 2 weeks of the age of the introduced birds tagged;
  4. It is required to participate in all ACGG research discussions, including focus group discussions (FGDs)and community level innovation platform meetings in which you have been invited to contribute to the discussion and get detailed information on selected topics, such as trait and strain preferences;
  5. For the period of the on-farm experiment, the exchange of birds among ACGG households is prohibited;
  6. Provide daily supplementary feed for the chickens;
  7. Allow the administration of routine vaccines;
  8. Cooperate with the ACGG field officer/enumerator and other project partners that will come to your house for data collection, vaccinations and other provisional services. The type of data collected during the study period will include chicken body weight, egg production, egg consumption, expenditure incurred for the management of the chickens, bird inventory, bird entry, bird exit, bird health, bird feeding, and revenue collected from the sale of eggs and chickens.
  9. It is required to attend data collection sessions scheduled with the field officer/ enumerator. Field officers/enumeratorswill come to your house for data collection for a minimum of once every two weeks;
  10. Be engaged in the study for 72 weeks; and
  11. During the study period you can consume or sell the male chickens once the ACGG field officers/ enumeratorhas confirmed that the male birds have reached18weeks of age. However, females will need to be maintained for the 72 week duration of the study and you can consume or sell them after the study.

3)Exit from the experiment

Your participation in the ACGG on-farm study is voluntary. If you first agree to participate and then you change your mind, you are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue your participation.

If you decide to withdraw your consent to participate in this study, you must notify the (name of enumerator and SNC) at (telephone number of enumerator and SNC). If you withdraw from the study, or the study is stopped for any reason, the ACGG birds will remain in your possession, but your engagement in all ACGG health and vaccination events, ACGG specific trainings and extension, and ACGG community group discussions will be terminated. The ACGG research team may also withdraw you from the study if all birds allocated to you die or the above requirements are not fulfilled.

4)YOUR RIGHTS AS A RESEARCH PARTICIPANT

Your decision on whether or not to participate in this study is voluntary. You have the right not to participate at all or to leave the study at any time. Deciding not to participate or choosing to leave the study will not result in any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled, and it will not harm your relationship with the project. Moreover, as a study farmer you have the following rights:

  1. The right to be informed of the nature and purpose of the study;
  2. the right to get an explanation of the procedures to be followed in the study;
  3. the right to get a description of any risks reasonably to be expected;
  4. the right to get an explanation of any benefits to the subject reasonably to be expected, if applicable;
  5. given a disclosure of any appropriate devices that might be advantageous to the subject, their relative risks and benefits;
  6. the right to be informed of the veterinary services given, if any available;
  7. the right to information regarding complications that may arise during the study;
  8. the right to get an opportunity to ask questions concerning the study or the procedures involved;
  9. The right to ownership of birds; and
  10. The right to a copy of this signed and dated consent form.

5)RISKS
While we perceive the risks of engagement in this study to be low, the following are potential risks of engaging in this study:

  1. The introduced birds may die;
  2. The existing chickens in the household may die;
  3. The introduced chickens may not be high producing; and
  4. The introduced birds might outcompete with the existing birds in the household and vice versa.

While the above are the potential risks of engagement, the ACGG team is committed to resolving all concerns and risk in a fair and equitable manner whenever possible (see section 7 of the consent form regarding compensation).

6)BENEFITS TO TAKING PART IN THE STUDY

It is reasonable to expect the following benefits from this study:

  1. You will get 30vaccinated birds brooded to at least 42 days free of cost. These birds will be reared with high quality brooding practices and they will have received all available standard vaccinations for Mareks’, Gumboro, NCD and fowl typhoid;
  2. The Newcastle Disease (ND) booster vaccination will be provided for all of the ACGG chickens and for all of the birds in your existing flock;
  3. Male chickens that have been confirmed to have reached 18 weeks of agecan be consumed or sold for your benefit;
  4. You can consume and/or sale eggs produced;
  5. You will receive some training on recommended chicken management practices;
  6. You can consume or salemeat of the female birds by the end of the 72 weeks of the study; and
  7. Lastly, you and others may benefit in the future from the information we find in this study.

7)Compensation

In this study, households suffering (total or partial) loss of their own flock due to disease outbreak associated with susceptibility of exotic ecotypes will be compensated. If you observe a death from disease in your flock you must notify your village’s field officer/enumeratorimmediately.The project will consult a veterinarian to determine the cause/nature of the disease and the result of the autopsy will be shared with you.

8)CONFIDENTIALITY

The data collected from this on-farm study is for research purposes, and the data collected will be aggregated with information from other farmers in the country in the pursuit of testing and making available high-producing, farmer-preferred chicken strains to increase smallholder chicken productivity. Your personal information such as yourname,telephone number, and location will only be revealed to the ACGG research team. Beyond the ACGG research team, the personal information that we collect for this project will be kept confidential. Any information about you shared outside the ACGG team will have a number associated with it instead of your name. Thus, your words and information may be quoted and referenced in publications, reports, papers, web pages, and other research outputs, but your name, contact information, and location will not be disclosed in any research outputs.

The knowledge that we get from doing this research will be shared with you through community meetings before it is made widely available to the public. There will be small meetings in the community and these will be announced. Confidential information such as household income and contact information will not be shared in these community meetings. After these meetings, we will publish the results in order that other interested people may learn from our research. All published materials will be publically accessible on CGSpace.

9)CONTACTS FOR QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS
If you have questions about the study and any problems please use the following address to keep in touch:

Contact address:(please write here the PI of the project address)

Institutions:

Phone number:

Fax number:

Email address:

Agreed Parties

Party A.

Name of ACGG SNC (or Legally Authorized Representative):

Signature:

Date:

Party B:

Name of the householderkeeping chicken:

Signature:

Date:

Name of the household head:

Signature:

Date:

Signature may be a thumb print impression depending on the subject. Upon signing, both parties will receive a copy of this form, and the original will be held in the subject’s research record.

1