Farm yourself out of poverty
About 30 successful SMEs have been established under a poultry project driven by Feedmaster and sister company Namib Poultry Industries.
In 2015, Namib Poultry Industries (NPI), along with its sister company Feedmaster, launched an SME project under the theme 'Farm yourself out of poverty'.
The original idea was to sell day-old chicks and feed, and to provide advice to small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs active in the informal economy in the northern and more rural areas of the country.
At the start, NPI was selling roughly 1 600 chicks monthly but this quickly grew to 10 000 and eventually in February this year, the project was outsourced as it became too big to handle in-house. By May, they were supplying 35 000 chicks monthly and this has grown to just over 50 000.
NPI made a point of not subsidising any of the SMEs, but assisted participants in securing funding and training to ensure success. To date, roughly 30 successful SMEs have been established and are fully self-sustainable.
According to Jan Balt who operates Day-Old Chickens Namibia for NPI, the market is excited about the initiative.
“It is something new for Namibia, which actually mostly consumes mutton, goat and beef. At the moment, chicken is the cheapest protein on the market, and thus the potential for growth is enormous.”
The bulk of the market is in the north of the country, but according to Balt, Katima Mulilo is hot on their heels. Balt says the Katima area has a vast amount of knowledge of chicken rearing, which he believes comes from Zambia. Chicken is also firmly entrenched as part of the diet in that area.
Research performed by Cirrus Capital indicates that small-scale poultry farming is “recognised as a vehicle for stimulating development in rural communities, accelerating the pace of poverty reduction and creating employment opportunities”. In Namibia, around 52.1% of the population still live in rural areas where unemployment is higher, “recorded at 39.1% as opposed to 30.3% for urban areas”, Cirrus reports.
The beauty of the SME project is that it overcomes the most significant inhibitors to successful small-scale poultry farming, which include higher transaction costs, a lack of training and mentoring and the absence of access to finance.
NPI offers the necessary inputs as well as mentoring and technical support. Feedmaster also provides documents listing the requirements of broiler production or chicken farming, supplying information on the housing, necessary temperatures and also provides diagrams of how the chicks will react if the applied temperature is incorrect.
Feed requirements, including intake weights, are also supplied.
For those farmers interested in egg production, the same information is provided.
Biosecurity and hygiene, essential in the success of chicken farming, is also extensively discussed and practical advice for small-scale farmers is given.
The established SMEs that are part of this project sell roughly 60% of their animals as live birds, while the remainder are slaughtered and sold fresh. Large-scale slaughtering and freezing is of course hampered by a lack of suitable infrastructure.
Based on estimates by NPI, a small-scale farmer can earn around N$5 000 monthly by slaughtering 100 chickens per six-week cycle. The farmers buy day-old chicks at roughly N$7.50 each and feed at roughly N$15 per chicken. The birds are slaughtered at around 38 days, weighing 2kg. In rural areas, farmers are able to fetch N$50/kg, and thus can earn N$100 for a bird. Deducting the initial chick and feed costs leaves N$77.50 per 2kg bird from with other costs, including labour, bedding and debt etc., recovered before profit.
“The Namibia Agricultural Union reports that the project has been a large success with ample opportunity for growth - attested to by the surge in demand for day-old chicks from NPI,” Cirrus said.
According to Balt one project that stands out at the moment is the Oyeno Poultry initiative, initiated by Paulo Shipoke, and while not fully operational, the project is under construction. NPI will also play an active role in terms of mentoring and support and the first visit to the farm at Ondobe is planned for this month. Plans are to slaughter 600 to 1 000 birds daily. Thus far, Shipoke has invested roughly N$8 million.
All in all, poultry farming in Namibia has much room for growth and the local industry is currently supplying roughly 1 900 of the 2 500 tons the country uses monthly. The SME project, although small-scale, can grow and make its own contributions. Currently, it aids job creation for both men and women, and through small-scale farming, these entrepreneurs can earn far above minimum wage.
YANNA SMITH
The original idea was to sell day-old chicks and feed, and to provide advice to small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs active in the informal economy in the northern and more rural areas of the country.
At the start, NPI was selling roughly 1 600 chicks monthly but this quickly grew to 10 000 and eventually in February this year, the project was outsourced as it became too big to handle in-house. By May, they were supplying 35 000 chicks monthly and this has grown to just over 50 000.
NPI made a point of not subsidising any of the SMEs, but assisted participants in securing funding and training to ensure success. To date, roughly 30 successful SMEs have been established and are fully self-sustainable.
According to Jan Balt who operates Day-Old Chickens Namibia for NPI, the market is excited about the initiative.
“It is something new for Namibia, which actually mostly consumes mutton, goat and beef. At the moment, chicken is the cheapest protein on the market, and thus the potential for growth is enormous.”
The bulk of the market is in the north of the country, but according to Balt, Katima Mulilo is hot on their heels. Balt says the Katima area has a vast amount of knowledge of chicken rearing, which he believes comes from Zambia. Chicken is also firmly entrenched as part of the diet in that area.
Research performed by Cirrus Capital indicates that small-scale poultry farming is “recognised as a vehicle for stimulating development in rural communities, accelerating the pace of poverty reduction and creating employment opportunities”. In Namibia, around 52.1% of the population still live in rural areas where unemployment is higher, “recorded at 39.1% as opposed to 30.3% for urban areas”, Cirrus reports.
The beauty of the SME project is that it overcomes the most significant inhibitors to successful small-scale poultry farming, which include higher transaction costs, a lack of training and mentoring and the absence of access to finance.
NPI offers the necessary inputs as well as mentoring and technical support. Feedmaster also provides documents listing the requirements of broiler production or chicken farming, supplying information on the housing, necessary temperatures and also provides diagrams of how the chicks will react if the applied temperature is incorrect.
Feed requirements, including intake weights, are also supplied.
For those farmers interested in egg production, the same information is provided.
Biosecurity and hygiene, essential in the success of chicken farming, is also extensively discussed and practical advice for small-scale farmers is given.
The established SMEs that are part of this project sell roughly 60% of their animals as live birds, while the remainder are slaughtered and sold fresh. Large-scale slaughtering and freezing is of course hampered by a lack of suitable infrastructure.
Based on estimates by NPI, a small-scale farmer can earn around N$5 000 monthly by slaughtering 100 chickens per six-week cycle. The farmers buy day-old chicks at roughly N$7.50 each and feed at roughly N$15 per chicken. The birds are slaughtered at around 38 days, weighing 2kg. In rural areas, farmers are able to fetch N$50/kg, and thus can earn N$100 for a bird. Deducting the initial chick and feed costs leaves N$77.50 per 2kg bird from with other costs, including labour, bedding and debt etc., recovered before profit.
“The Namibia Agricultural Union reports that the project has been a large success with ample opportunity for growth - attested to by the surge in demand for day-old chicks from NPI,” Cirrus said.
According to Balt one project that stands out at the moment is the Oyeno Poultry initiative, initiated by Paulo Shipoke, and while not fully operational, the project is under construction. NPI will also play an active role in terms of mentoring and support and the first visit to the farm at Ondobe is planned for this month. Plans are to slaughter 600 to 1 000 birds daily. Thus far, Shipoke has invested roughly N$8 million.
All in all, poultry farming in Namibia has much room for growth and the local industry is currently supplying roughly 1 900 of the 2 500 tons the country uses monthly. The SME project, although small-scale, can grow and make its own contributions. Currently, it aids job creation for both men and women, and through small-scale farming, these entrepreneurs can earn far above minimum wage.
YANNA SMITH
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