When they suggested that they wanted to start poultry keeping, members of Chuodho Women Group were ridiculed. Who would buy their products and how would so many people benefit from a joint venture?
According to their coordinator John Okeyo, members did not listen to the critics and now the group is a living example of how determination, right information and a vision can propel a community to prosperity. The group makes Sh300,000 from sale of broilers, layers and chicks.
Consequently, there are men also pushing to join the women’s group despite the ridicule they might face. The group based in Raguda village, Migori county, has 22 members—two men and 20 women. There are plans to include more men to meet the gender representation principal, says Okeyo.
“Women form a key pillar of community development. They know how to organise themselves into small economic blocs,” says Okeyo. He says, now, the group has something to write home about, three years after members decided to venture into poultry keeping.
“We started off with 100 indigenous chicken, but the venture was not successful,” he says. They had started with local breeds, but realised they had to improve their stock.
In their second attempt, they bought 200 chicks through the help of US-funded Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF) and Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project Phase II, by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Currently, he says, the group has a stock of 1,300 birds comprising 500 broilers, 300 layers and 500 one-day-old chicks. Their biggest hit is with the Rainbow Rooster Layers that can lay 200 eggs a day, which are incubated and hatched.
This process, he says, takes about 21 days with 18 days in the incubation stage and another three days in the hatchery. “We don’t sell eggs, we incubate them after fertilisation.
They take 21 days to hatch,” he says. “A day-old chick goes for Sh100 while one-month-old chick sells at Sh200,” Okeyo says. He says the incubator can accommodate between 2,500 and 3,000 eggs at a time.
They sell a broiler for Sh400. On how they divide profits, Okeyo says they set aside 60 per cent for maintenance and save 40 per cent as a revolving fund for members. Okeyo says from the revolving fund, the group and community members can obtain loan at a five per cent interest rate.
He says the project has also created employment and opportunities for the community as they supply feeds. “There are those who provide vegetables, soya beans, worms, eggshells, sunflower, fish meal, green grass and sorghum,” he says. The coordinator says the biggest challenge is diseases such as Newcastle.
He says the project lacks modern milling machines for the poultry feeds. Okeyo is urging local farmers to follow in their footstep and keep indigenous poultry. “Since we have gained momentum, we want to expand to reach more people,” says Okeyo. The group’s chairperson Caroline Otieno says the poultry venture has changed their fortunes.
“Members are able to take care of their families and also save,” says Otieno. She says members have also benefitted from training and can also do business on their own. She urges women and youth to form groups to start agricultural ventures to improve their livelihood.
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