Inch by inch life's a cinch: The story behind Bomet women's poultry success
What you need to know:
- Precious Group Cooperative Society raised Sh40,000 seed money from the meagre weekly savings over a period of one year and set up a brooder for day-old chicks that they sell after one month.
- The group was formed in 2019 by 34 members – all of whom are women – as a means to uplift their standards of living through an income-generating project.
In what captures the true meaning of the old adage that inch by inch is a cinch, a women's group in Bomet County has surmounted the odds by setting up a poultry enterprise with a savings of Sh20 per member.
The members of Precious Group Cooperative Society raised Sh40,000 seed money from the meagre weekly savings over a period of one year and set up a brooder for day-old chicks that they sell after one month.
The group was formed in 2019 by 34 members – all of whom are women – as a means to uplift their standards of living through an income-generating project.
From an initial 400 chicks, the women now brood and sell an average of 1,000 one-month-old chicks with an eye to expand the enterprise and set up their own hatchery.
It is a boost to the government's bid to prop up farmers to produce enough poultry and its products for local and foreign markets.
Kenya imports most of the eggs from China, Uganda and Tanzania in what has in the past caused a friction with local farmers who interestingly produce a surplus of more than 400,000 million eggs.
Layer chickens in Kenya rose from 5.58 million in 2019 to 6.2 million in 2023, according to statistics at the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the same period, the supply of eggs increased from 1.6 billion to 1.8 billion eggs, according to the Agriculture ministry, against an average consumption of 1.2 billion eggs.
Bomet is known for high production of indigenous chickens in the country, with the eggs and poultry meat from the area sold as far as Nairobi and Kisumu cities.
Ms Grace Cheboi Limo, the chairperson of the group, said members were brought together by common problems and standards of living, as neighbours in Kalyet village, Kipreres ward, Bomet East.
“It started with the improvement of semi-permanent houses we reside in with the smearing of the mud walls and floors on a rotational basis for the members. When we were done, we then decided to contribute a small amount of money to start an income-generating project,” Ms Limo said.
Members of the group settled on starting a poultry project as an income-generating enterprise and sought professional support from experts in the Ministry of Agriculture at the county.
“Out of the Sh150 we contributed on a merry-go-round on a weekly basis, we saved Sh20 each throughout the year 2019. And in 2020, we decided to start a poultry project with the initial purchase of 400 chicks, which was sold to members after a month,” Ms Limo said.
Members of the group were encouraged to buy between two and 10 chicks to ensure that they could have a source of income for themselves and set an example for the other members of the community.
Chicks at a brooder owned by members of Precious Poultry Cooperative Society in Bomet County on July 31, 2024. The group has 1,000 chicks in the brooder, having started by saving Sh20 per member and raising Sh40,000 capital.
Ms Mercy Mutai, the secretary of the group, said the success of the initial project spurred on the members to invest more money in the project.
“When we realised that we were able to undertake the project as an income-generating enterprise, we raised the minimum savings from Sh20 to Sh50 per member and set up a brood site at the home of the chairperson of the group,” Ms Mutai said.
In January 2023, the group bought 500 chicks, then raised it to 700 and has for the last one year maintained the brooding of day-old chicks to 1,000 per month.
“There is a ready market for the one-month-old chicks, which we sell at an average of Sh300 having bought it at Sh115 per chick from Uzima hatcheries in Kisumu,” Ms Mutai said.
The group members said they have huge orders from customers in the county, but business is usually low between October and March for chicks, but high for mature birds for meat.
“We have a potential to brood more chicks, but the major challenge we are faced with is the high cost of commercial feed that has hampered plans to expand our commercial enterprise.”
In recognition of their efforts, the county government of Bomet, through the department of agriculture and that of cooperatives, gave them 800 chicks in 2021 to boost their project.
Since they do not keep the birds to maturity for laying eggs and meat purposes, they do depend entirely on commercial poultry feed without supplementing with other locally grown ones like cabbages, spinach, collard greens and maize.
Some of the poultry farmers in the region have used subsidised fertiliser to grow maize and vegetables, which they feed on the chickens to supplement the commercial feed.
“There are many challenges, including high mortality rate caused by cold and other natural courses, when the chicks are young, which we have to grapple with in the enterprise,” Ms Limo said.
“We use charcoal to heat the room in the day and infra-red bulbs at night when the chicks are between two one day and two weeks old.”
Two group members have been employed to take care of the chicks, with one working in the day and another at night before they attain the maturity stage for selling to customers.
“We plan to buy land to set up our own hatchery in an expansion programme, which we are working towards achieving in the future so that we can be self-reliant on the production line,” Ms Limo said.
A high number of youths have been engaged in poultry rearing in the area, borrowing a leaf from the women’s group in the area.
Dr Kibet Sitienei, chief officer, Bomet County, said the national and county governments with support from donors were implementing interventions to raise production of indigenous chickens.
Dr Kibet Sitienei, the Chief Officer for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, states that the group's poultry farmers earned Sh271 million from the sale of 1.355 million trays of eggs in Bomet County, on July 31, 2024.
Dr Sitienei stated that the county has 925,000 indigenous chickens and 93,000 commercial layers as of population captured in 2023 records.
“The latest statistics show that annually, Bomet produces 1.355 million trays of eggs, half of which is sold locally, fetching Sh271 million to the poultry farmers,” he revealed.
“The poultry meat produced and sold is 1.3 million kilogrammes, translating into an average earning of Sh832 million last year (2023).
“Our intervention has targeted 160,000 households, with each having a minimum of 10 laying chickens per day to ensure production of eggs as a commercial enterprise. This means nutrition and commercial interventions.
“There is a ready market for eggs and poultry meat, with 100,000 households in Bomet alone consuming the produce.”
Siaya County has offered to buy fertilised kienyeji chicken eggs from Bomet.
“The county is providing vaccination services at a subsidised rate to the poultry farmers to enhance production and provide income-generating lines for the residents.”
A Sh10 million hatchery has been set up in Rongena-Manaret aimed at producing chicks for supply to locals while a slaughter house is being put up in the Chebole area.
Vulnerable and minority groups have been provided with improved kienyeji chicks to spur production and create sources of income.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Kipronoh Ronoh said in Bomet that there was a need for farmers to embrace commercial rearing of poultry, with the government having cut back on imports.
“Farmers should move from subsistence to commercial scale to meet the high demand in the local market and even export the surplus. The government is focused on assisting farmers to produce for local production and export,” Dr Ronoh said.
“The most common poultry diseases, which the birds should be vaccinated against are – Marek’s, New Castle, fowl pox, fowl typhoid, coccidiosis and gumboro, among others,” Dr Wilson Serem, Bomet County Director of Veterinary, said.
Dr Serem said farmers should maintain high standards of hygiene to avoid spread of deadly diseases passed on by contact with the environment. The birds are kept by people who have not sterilised their clothes and shoes.
