For rural households in low and middle-income countries, backyard poultry production is an important livelihood strategy. However, poultry ownership can increase young children’s exposure to poultry faeces, causing diarrhoea and poor growth outcomes.

In Bangladesh, most rural households raise poultry, and almost half keep birds inside their household dwelling at night, increasing risk of exposure to poultry faeces. This research encompasses a follow-up evaluation to a previously developed hygiene and poultry management intervention, which when tested among households in rural Bangladesh led to 58% of households building an improved shed to reduce young children’s exposure to the risks of poultry faeces.

The study aims to offer insights into best practices for WASH interventions that incorporate poultry management to reduce human exposure to animal faeces.

There are three objectives:

1.  A long-term evaluation of intervention households is being conducted to assess durability of hygiene behaviour change and intervention sustainability.
2. An assessment of faecal contamination in the domestic environment and the evaluation of risk factors for young children’s exposure to poultry faeces is being undertaken, which will provide insight on the intervention’s potential to improve human health.
3. Recommendations for the design, content and evaluation of intervention approaches to reduce exposure to poultry faeces and optimise the positive contributions of backyard poultry to household health and livelihood will be explored.