Those three families are currently reaping the benefits of the housing system now located at the home of one of the three women.
Healthy chickens after five weeks of breeding in the new coop.
To this day, the housing unit has improved the health of all the chickens they breed.
Yo te a pollo
2016
Yo te a pollo is a housing system for broilers designed to empower women in Guatemala’s rural areas.
Rural families in Guatemala commonly raise and consume chickens. However, in most cases, they do not do it under the right conditions. This often puts their health at risk, and increases the likelihood of chicken mortality, which, for them, are highly-valued assets. This has a direct impact on their economy, which is why I opted to focus my thesis project on finding a solution to this problem through the concept of frugal innovation.
The project was developed in the municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala alongside three women from different poultry-farming families whose chicken coops were unsanitary, which put their chickens’ health at risk.
The design eases waste management and optimizes the use of space by separating the chicken coop into different hexagonal chambers which can be easily arranged at will. This reduces the chickens’ chance of contracting diseases and spreading them among themselves. The housing unit in itself is made by using low-cost materials which can be easily acquired at local hardware stores.
In the media
Description of the technological solution model
Eventually, thanks to the support of Enactus Landivar, this project was able to participate in Enactus World Cup 2016, a competition in which university students from around the world showcase projects of entrepreneurial action with a social impact. The competition took place in Toronto, Canada.