How merry-go-round’s love for tasty chicken bore booming business
A culture of feasting on chicken during merry-go-round meetings by 27 women friends in Trans Nzoia County ended up being a winning business idea after they reared more than they could eat.
The founding chairperson, Ms Julia Ngeiywa, said they had advised members to rear enough chicken so that whenever it was their turn to host the meeting, members would have enough to eat.
Some of them had low status in the community and a low level of awareness, while their husbands had control over money. Their objective was to empower themselves.
“The passion for chicken saw us change from contributing cash to contributing chicken to members. Members soon had many chickens that we began thinking of selling,” said Ms Ngeiywa.
After realising that they had a challenge accessing the market, they paid a visit to the Trans Nzoia Agriculture Department where they were advised on how to grow their venture.
“We were told to form a self-help group, which we would use as a legal entity to market our products to potential clients in addition to having an organised way of carrying out our activities,” she said.
They registered the group name Trans Queen Self-help Group and soon attracted more members, upon which they were advised to convert it to a community-based organisation to accommodate more.
“The success of the group saw us get more members including men and youths declaring interest to join us. We were again advised by the Ministry of Agriculture officials to form a cooperative society,” said Mrs Ngeiywa.
The group, therefore, morphed into Trans Queen and Kings Cooperative Society was later formed, with the main goal of rearing and selling chicken. Today, the society has 1,624 shareholders and 155 self-help groups.
Kuku Bora, Kenchic
“We attracted self-help groups through the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Project (NARIGP), of which we were among the organisations that benefited with an objective of increasing agricultural productivity and profitability of targeted rural communities,” she said.
The Trans Queens and Kings chairperson, Mrs Julia Ngeiywa (in white dress), Cicilia Nduta, one of the cooperative directors from Sikhendu (in yellow dress) and a guest hand chicks to Mama Ngina Kenyatta at her Muthaiga home as she ventures into chicken rearing project.
The cooperative, which now has five directors, four executive officers and three supervisory officers, acts as a link between the self-help groups and the markets.
“We signed a memorandum with several firms, among them Kuku Bora, Kenchic, hatcheries and hotels. We sell 300 chickens per week and we are targeting 2,000. We make about Sh120,000 per month,” she said.
The difference between fully paid up members and affiliates is that the former enjoy more benefits like dividends and decision-making while the latter only benefit from affordable products and market linkages.
“One share is Sh5,000 and we make about Sh1 million a year. We have acquired one and a half-acre piece of land for the cooperative, which will help us in our strategic growth goals,” said Mrs Ngeiywa.
The growth of the group into a cooperative has widened the scope of their operations, with their main target now being to expand their tentacles beyond Trans Nzoia county in a bid to make more returns.
“We also wish to set up our own slaughterhouse to enable us to sell slaughtered chicken meat directly to our clients. We also wish to have refrigerated vehicles to help us in accessing markets,” said Ms Ngeiywa.
They also have set their sights on chicken hotels across the region, in addition to setting up a central collection centre for the chicken by their members to boost their productivity.
“We are also thinking of setting up a sacco that will enable members to have access to credit facilities to finance their needs and goals,” said the chairperson.
Vaccination programmes
The cooperative society has embarked on these ambitious plans to cushion itself from future losses like the ones incurred during the Covid 19 pandemic, which saw their market shrink after hotels were closed.
The Trans Queens and Kings cooperative society chairperson, Mrs Julia Ngeiywa (second right), with chief officer in charge of fisheries Mr Shadrack Kimtai (in red t-shirt), chief officer in charge of Education Linekar Bwire (in Maroon top), NARIGP capacity building head Mr Maina Gekone (in a grey suit) and other members at Legacy area in Trans Nzoia County.
“We were hit hard during that period since the number of people who reared chicken also grew as most people who lost their jobs resorted to venturing into the business, which is easy to start,” she said.
She advised those who wish to venture into the business not to hesitate, noting that chicken rearing was not costly since all you require is to start with a chick as long as you can feed it to grow.
“Control of chicken diseases is, however, a challenge since they pose a great danger, which can see you losing all the birds. You, therefore, have to invest in vaccination programmes,’ she advised.
Mr Brian Suruti is one of the field officers and the office manager at the cooperative society and is also part of the firm’s supervisory committee.
“I coordinate activities that include handling paperwork like orders and communicating with the farmers concerning the management of the chicken. I also offer extension services to members,” said Mr Suruti.
The cooperative has also signed a memorandum with common interest groups and vulnerable groups who enjoy the benefits that include access to chicks and feeds and marketing that links them to clients.
“Being in the cooperative society is very beneficial to members since they are guaranteed to get chicks, feeds and drugs at cost-effective prices. They also benefit from extension and marketing services,” he said. BY DAILY NATION
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