Urban chicken production has continued to exist for many years in Tanzania. With the raise in concern on poverty in the country, urban chicken production which is practiced by most of the households in urban areas seems to be one of the relevant ways to address poverty prevailing among urban dwellers. The study was conducted in two wards of Dodoma Municipality, Tanzania. The main concern of the study was to assess the contribution of urban chicken production to household income and to identify challenges facing urban chicken producers in the study area. A cross sectional type of study was conducted to collect data from June 2013 to September 2013 using questionnaire survey; whereas 72 households were included in the survey. T test was used to find out if the earnings from chicken production were significantly associated with the income changes of the households of chicken producers. Findings have shown that most of the income from chicken products was derived from sales of eggs and live chicken. Moreover, the findings supports the preposition that chicken production has contribution in increasing household income (P =.000). The findings have also revealed that urban chicken producers are faced by a number of challenges; the some of them being financial, price fluctuation, and lack of unit among producers. One of the recommendations of the study is that, chicken producers should organize themselves in a trade association to assist them in price negotiations, and soliciting financial means.
Urban, poultry production, chicken production, household income
