Success Stories
Which is more important: the chicken or the egg?
The Banyatereza Sisters of Fort Portal know the answer. Six years ago, the sisters started a poultry project with only 200 chicks. Today they have 2,500 chicks with orders for double that number. The Sisters are teaching interested farmers in the surrounding communities how to raise chickens profitably. Chickens, which are in short supply in the region and can be difficult to raise, are a valuable contribution to the food supply. The Banyatereza Sisters received $7,430 from the Ambassador’s Self Help Fund to buy solar panels to help keep the day-old chicks alive., which provide light bulb warmth and light that extends their daily feeding hours.
Community volunteers helped install the solar panels and donate chicken feed. The Banyateresa Sisters’ Poultry House, is a demonstration training center and a model poultry project in western Uganda.
These solar panels reduce the death rate of the day-old chicks and increase the number and age of productive chicks by providing warmth and light from the light bulbs. “Since the solar panels were installed, the number of chicks dying has been reduced almost to zero. The birds now eat through the night, and they grow fast and start producing as early as four months. At two months, the broilers are already two kilos and at seven weeks they are ready for marketing,” Sister Lenora explains enthusiastically.
So far, Sister Lenora has trained over 100 farmers to produce healthy and profitable chickens for their families and communities. “Formerly, we used to import eggs from Kampala, but these days we have over 500 layers and are even exporting eggs to Congo and neighboring districts,” she says. The project benefits over 2,000 people. Benefits include improved nutrition, income generation, and byproducts such as organic fertilizer for farmers using the chicken litter on their banana plantations
Farmers receive training and support directly from Sister Lenora, and organized themselves into the “Toro Poultry Farmers Association” which meets every month. Farmers cover the costs of feed, chicks, and drugs through their profits. The project provides free training on poultry house construction, how to make brooders and mixing proper feeds, and finding markets. Sister Lenora does poultry vaccinations and treatments, then follows the farmers through every stage of poultry raising. The biggest challenge for farmers is getting quality feed and securing chicks from Kampala, which is slow, risky and expensive. The next step for the group is to procure a machine that will grind feed properly, and setting up an egg incubator to hatch eggs directly in Fort Portal and reduce the transport costs (and loss) of securing hatched chicks from Kampala.
The chickens and the eggs are both important in changing lives; through improved nutrition and increased incomes.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.
