Good News for Chicken Farmers As Governor Lusaka Opens Sh40m Chicken Slaughterhouse In Chwele, Bongoma

Bungoma governor Kenneth Lusaka commissioned a Sh40 million chicken slaughterhouse on Tuesday at Chwele, Kabuchai constituency.

Lusaka said that the factory will employ more 700 youths, women and elderly persons. He asked locals to rear more fowls in order to eradicate poverty.

"This factory will handle more than 3,000 birds per day," he said, adding that he mooted the idea while serving as Livestock PS.

The factory will be run by Kuku Bora chicken dealers, who operate and distribute chicken meat countrywide.

He said the meat will be packed in different weights and different parts of the chicken sold to hotels, schools, hospitals, county governments and residents.

Lusaka said the county government put Sh25million to the project - land and construction; while the national government pumped Sh15million.

"The roads leading to the factory will be tarmacked to ease transportation of chicken," he said, adding that the abattoir has been built to halal standards.

"This is where we will use the non-carcinogenic wheelbarrows that had Kenyans talking. We will also use hooks that don't contaminate the meat," Lusaka said.

The meat will be exported to Uganda, as well as sold locally with the supplies sourced locally and from across the country.

Lusaka warned residents against stealing their neighbour's fowls just because a market has been created.

Bungoma CEC for industrialisation Patrick Kooi said that the factory will focus on slaughtering local chickens.

How To Own Part Of The Sh.101 Trillion Agribusiness Market In Kenya

A recent assessment by the World Bank found that by 2030, serving the food demands of Africa’s growing middle class alone will create a market worth $1 trillion (Sh.101 trillion).

African “agripreneurs” can own that market if we tap the two assets that form an unbeatable combination: 

• the world’s largest population of young people, and 
• the world’s largest holdings of uncultivated arable land.

In fact, Tegemeo Institute has conducted a study that has found access to land could dramatically increase youth participation in agriculture, particularly for young women farmers.

There are about 1 million youths entering the labour market annually. They can contribute to significant food security in Kenya if they are gainfully employed in agriculture where increasing population, low agricultural productivity and decreasing arable land in the high and medium potential areas are a threat to food security.

INNOVATIVE AGRIBUSINESS

Their participation in agriculture has, however, been constrained by limited access to land in the rural areas. The good news is, unlike in the rural areas, innovative urban farming takes place even on 0.25 acres of land.

This allows rearing of poultry, rabbits and having green houses in urban areas where land is scarce. Such innovative approaches can involve the youths more, especially where land is scarce.

Involvement of the young people in farming requires development of positive attitude towards agriculture.

This will help reduce unemployment among the youths because political and social consequences of unemployed youths can be extensive as witnessed by political unrests globally.

RELEVANT SKILLS

This would involve equipping youthful “agripreneurs” with relevant skills to build a sustainable and resilient agricultural innovation system that will respond to unique challenges within their counties.

The average age of small-scale farmers owning land in Kenya is 49 years and the youths who make up 67 per cent of the Kenyan population have no access to land.

As such, they are unable to exploit opportunities in farming. This excludes a great majority of the youths, who have the capability to work and produce more from land.

OPTIONS FOR ACCESSING LAND FOR AGRICULTURE

Studies have shown that about three quarters of youths still inherit land from their parents and only about one third buy land. While most would argue that this is because of the high cost of land, the truth is that buying land is not a priority for many young Kenyans. The inherited land is barely sufficient to sustain a family under the current agricultural production system.

The majority of parents (90 per cent) in the rural areas have recognised that their farms are the main sources of land access for their children and usually hand down at least part of their farms to them while they are still alive. And even when they buy or access land, the most common land size that’s accessible to them is two acres. It is uneconomical to farm two acres through telephone farming for this group.

The other alternative means of accessing land is through renting, which only a small fraction of the youth population does.

Majority rely on family land. The resulting inequitable distribution of land, particularly among the younger generation alienates them from meaningful participation in farming. The only way to involve them is to provide credit for those willing to farm.

Exploiting the Kenya government’s effort of offering the Agri-Vijana loan from one of its state corporations—the Youth Enterprise Development Fund—is one way of empowering the youths to access land.

This will create a win-win situation between landlords and their tenants, with resultant increase in food production. Such a land market will be key to increasing access to land for the youths.

By DENNIS OTIENO

For: www.nation.co.ke

Why Billionaire Bill Gates Believes Kienyeji Chicken Farming Is A Gateway To Riches

You probably have heard that Billionaire Bill Gates is now running a campaign aimed at alleviating poverty in Africa by helping poor families to rear chicken. He intends to give 100,000 chicken to starter farmers in Africa.

Without going to the details of his project, the fact that Bill Gates has chosen to do this says much more about the prospects of chicken farming as a business than it does about his philanthropic kind. I caught a video of him explaining why he believes that chicken farming in Africa can be big business. Allow me to share some of his thoughts that I completely agree with.

1. Extremely high returns

Bill Gates says that there is no investment that has a high return percentage like the business of breeding chicken. Let us take an example of a farmer starting off with five hens and a rooster of improved quality: the farmer would have an initial investment of about Sh. 3500 taking an average of Sh. 500 for each hen and 1000 for the rooster. With a good breed of chicken, the farmer would be able to have a flock of about 40 chicken in just about 4 months. Selling them at Sh.500 each, the farmer would make a cool Sh.20,000. So that is more than 450% profit!

2. Low running costs

Well I know the calculations above have overlooked many practical costs of the chicken farming business. Essentially, you would need to provide feeds, vaccines, treatments and maybe labour. However, these costs are significantly reduced of you choose to keep the Kienyeji breed of chicken. This breed is hardy to start with. So the cost of vaccines and treatments is kept at the lowest. The Kienyeji chicken also scavenge for food from the ground, digging up insects and browsing on green grass. Feeding them just once in a day to supplement their findings is enough. Since they range freely, you also need minimal labour in feeding them.

3. Huge potential to grow

I am yet to find out a farming business that has a greater potential to grow into a million shilling project within a short time than does the chicken farming business. Chicken multiply exponentially and with that the business of keeping them grows at a similar rate. I remember while in high school we started a chicken rearing project with 40 Kienyeji hens and in one year, we sold a flock of over 500 chicken even though some were just 2 months chicks. All those were just from the parent stock.

While most of the farming businesses bring great satisfaction, I think and believe chicken farming is the most rewarding. I hope this inspires and challenges you into chicken farming especially the kienyeji breed. God bless.

Why Kienyeji Chicken Farming In Kenya Is The Big Business

Kienyeji Chicken farming is the new buzz amongst the poultry farmers in Kenya today. The exotic breeds, which we commonly refer to as grade chicken, still produce more eggs and meat compared to the Kienyeji breeds. However, these grade breeds are a little delicate and require specialized management throughout their lives. They also consume a massive amount of food. That means the farming of the exotic breeds mostly leaves out the young and new farmers who may not afford the costs of feeding, vaccination and other expenses.

This is one of the reasons that has made the Kienyeji Chicken breed to be so popular in Kenya today. The most popular Kienyeji breed – the KARI Improved Kienyeji – was developed over a period of 10 years by studying the characteristics of the indigenous chicken breeds throughout Kenya.

Through years of interbreeding, the researchers at KARI Naivasha came up with the perfect bird that is between the indigenous breeds and the exotic breeds. It produces 200-280 eggs per year, compared to the 300 for the exotic breeds but with minimal overheads. It also produces better meat quality and has greater disease resistance. That means more money in the pockets of the farmers.

The new Improved Kienyeji breeds also fetch more from the market compared to the broilers. A hen is likely to fetch Ksh.700-Ksh850 while the cocks fetch anything from Ksh.1000 to Ksh.1500. The trend towards health conscious products and a market that is increasingly appreciating organically produced products has also driven up the demand for the Kienyeji chicken. Here are three main advantages of the KARI Improved Kienyeji chicken breeds:

1. Low Cost of Production

If you are worried about the big nightmare of feeding your broilers, especially when they have hit 8 weeks and you cannot find a ready market for your birds, then the improved Kienyeji breed is the answer. These can be reared in a free-range or semi free range system where the cost of feeding is drastically minimized. You can make small investments in commercial feed but also let them scavenge for food without diminishing your egg or meat production. The hens are also disease resistant so your losses due to disease outbreaks are largely minimized.

2. More nutritious eggs and meat

Rearing your chicken in the free range or semi-free range systems, where chicken are allowed to roam unrestricted or in a restricted environment results in eggs which are more nutritious. The scavenging chickens scratch the ground to unearth more diverse and nutritious food sources such as termites. From these numerous nutrients, consumers are assured of excellent and more nutritious egg and poultry production. In the semi free range system, farmers can use several techniques to increase the number of termites in the enclosure.

This is not simply a cliché but has been verified through research by the US Department of Agriculture or the USDA which found that eggs produced by chicken under a free range system are a lot more nutritious than those produced under commercial conditions with commercial feeding. If you are into ethical farming practices, then the kienyeji chicken farming is the way to go.

3. Fetch higher market prices for your poultry products

Both the meat and egg products from the kienyeji chicken fetch twice as much as those from the caged birds. If there was ever any motivation for starting a business, then here is a powerful one! Maximum profits with minimal overheads.