This archive report was first published on 16 May 2020.
May 16, 2020 - Migori County, Kenya
Rolex Otieno Wasonga, a 30-year-old poultry farmer, has found innovative ways to cushion his business from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and floods in western Kenya.
Wasonga started his poultry farm in May 2019 with just 30 indigenous birds, which he bought from his neighbors. He had previously worked at a road construction firm, but the intermittent work prompted him to start the agribusiness for more income.
He expanded his chicken business using the earnings from a chama he was part of, buying a batch of 430 two-week-old Kuroiler birds. However, as the flock grew bigger, more challenges arose, including feeding the large number of birds.
Wasonga enrolled in a short-course on poultry production at the nearby Elego Poultry farm, which helped him learn basic poultry management, housing, vaccination, and feed formulation. He now makes his own feeds using maize germ, fish meal, wheat bran, and rice straw, which has helped him cut costs in half.
However, the Covid-19 crisis and floods have made the materials scarcer and expensive. To cushion himself, Wasonga free-ranges the birds for some hours. He also grows greens for the birds by soaking yellow maize for three days in water and then allowing them to germinate.
Wasonga sells the birds at between Sh800 and Sh1,000 each, with Christmas and Easter holidays being his peak seasons. He also sells unfertilised eggs at Sh350 a crate, mostly to his neighbors, while fertilised ones go for Sh750 a crate.
Dennis Kigiri, a poultry production expert from Egerton University, emphasizes the importance of proper poultry management, including adherence to a strict vaccination regime and disease prevention.
