Poultry Rearing Project
Having successfully piloted our Dorper Sheep Project with 9 of our single mothers, we decided to empower an additional 12 women by providing them with seed capital of 7 chickens, 1 rooster and 1 bag of feed to help kickstart their efforts to diversify their income streams. The women divided themselves into 4 groups of 3 women each, where they could provide further support to one another as they monitored their projects.
Over a period of 5 months, the 12 single mothers had each managed to add an additional Ksh.2,500 (USD25) to their families monthly income and this was a game changer for them. In one of our follow up meetings, the women narrated how the project had changed their lives by not only helped them diversify their families income streams through the sale of the eggs, but it had also helped them achieve other personal objectives. Some examples they gave were, they were able to add protein to their household nutritional diet through the consumption of eggs (which was deemed a bit of a luxury before this as access to quality protein was not always possible, they could meet other household needs like buying soap, salt, cooking oil, school items for their school going children etc.
Below are a few of the comments recorded from our follow up meetings
Mary (47 years old) : I am a mother of 4 and the bread winner of my family and I also take care of my elderly parents. My mother has been unwell for the past one month and i have had to split my time between caring for her and working as a casual labourer to earn a living. This project has enabled me to have something of my own. It has given me a sense of belonging and confidence. It has also meant that I no longer have to spend money to buy eggs for my ailing mother who needs to increase her protein intake. Instead I can feed her what she needs and still have enough to make an extra income.
Gladys (58 years old): I have a dream of owning 30 (egg laying) chicken. This project has brought me one step closer to my dream- as i now have 12 chicken in total. I am almost half-way there. For the first time in a long time, I was able to pay my grandchild’s school fees before the start of the term, using the proceeds I have been collecting and saving from the sale of my eggs!
Joyce (78 years old): I am a mother 4 and have an additional six dependants that I care for (my son, daughter-in-law and their 4 children). I suffer from arthritis and have been unable to accomplish a lot of my chores to care for my family. Initially I depended on my cow which is no longer productive and it had put my families livelihood in jeopardy- but now I depend entirely on the 14 chicken I am rearing to care for my family and its not as challenging for me to do healthwise.
Jane (68 years): I am currently looking after 3 of my grandchildren who are all school-going. One is in his final year in secondary school, another is in grade 10, and the youngest is in grade 6. I have been completely dependent on farming to care for them and meet their needs, but of late the yield has been poor due to the changing and unreliable weather patterns and limited capacities of what my farm can produce. I now have 9 Chickens in total which helps her cater for our basic needs. I have also been able to acquire a solar lamp through a local plan known as M-KOPA and I am using the proceeds from the sale of eggs to service my monthly solar lamp payments .