Aston Lukoye
In the present Kenyan market, poultry farming is one of the fastest-growing and most successful agri-businesses. Andrew Makatiani and his wife Lilian Serenge, who own Lianfam Africa Ltd in Musonga village, Kakamega county, have seen it all in the chicken industry and have made their first million shilling after persevering. Though it hasn’t been easy for them.
A Small Start-Up Grew to a Big Investment
Things weren’t always been so easy for the couple. They started with only 14 kienyeji chickens four years ago, and there have been numerous setbacks since then.
“I was unemployed at the time, and I figured chicken would be my way out of poverty.” “I obtained 25 month–old chicks from the parent stock and sold them for Sh220,” Makatiani remembers.
Squeezing millions in profit out of chickens is not as easy as milking a big “air supply” government tender.
“It’s funny how people assume this massive investment happened suddenly until they come here and see it. But that’s not the case. Behind the scenes, there have been many difficult times. “But we never gave up,” Makatiani, a graduate in Accounting and Information Technology, adds.
Contracts and Direct Sales
His wife used her marketing acumen to actively seek out consumers from far and wide, utilizing social media and other networks, to guarantee they had a consistent clientele base every season.
“My wife is an excellent marketer, and she used her talents to guarantee that anytime we had produce to sell, we had a ready market.” The market in Western is inundated with chicken growers and low-cost imports from Uganda. To cross such treacherous seas, you’ll need to sell your items aggressively,” Makatiani adds.
They have secured rich contracts from the county government and countless prizes as a result of their brand name and investing ability, and tourists continue to flock in to discover how they do it.
They have agreed to brood 4,750 day-old chicks for the county administration of Kakamega until they are a month old.
Hard Work Never Goes Unrewarded
They’ve almost reached Sh5 million in earnings from selling chicks now.
“We had a fantastic season last year. It is the year in which our company has earned the greatest rewards. “That was a huge deal for us and a statement of confidence that our hard work is finally paying off,” the farmer adds.
The disease attacked him along the way, and he lost a lot of chicks.
“That was a significant setback for us, costing us tens of thousands of dollars.” But we put the parts back together, learned from our mistakes, and went on,” he adds.
There was no way to back out now. The number of chicks gradually grew to 300.
Learning the Hard Way
One of their major obstacles has been low-cost imports, but they have found a way to endure. With the threat of being pushed out by low-cost imports, the pair wisely chose to focus on brooding.
“We had to learn the hard way,” says the agripreneur. We realized that if we wanted to continue in business, we needed to restructure our business strategy and focus solely on brooding. To improve my brooding abilities, I’ve attended multiple training sessions and even visited some of Germany’s best-managed chicken farms,” Makatiani adds.
They purchased an automated brooder capable of holding up to 5,000 chicks.
Unlike conventional brooding techniques such as using a charcoal fire, where farmers have to guess at the temperature, the digital brooder collects actual data that is then automated to meet temperature requirements.
Conclusion
It is not for everyone to engage in contract poultry production. It’s an exhausting job that lasts for weeks or months at a time, depending on the length of time each flock has been on the farm.
Read more: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.standardmedia.co.ke%2Fbusiness%2Fwork-life%2Farticle%2F2001358788%2Fwe-made-first-million-from-chicken&psig=AOvVaw2Me6LbEEn_YCgGFKxHPH8w&ust=1654450199439000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjDjOG0qZT4AhX8YfEDHcYvAOAQr4kDegUIARCHAQ
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings