Pursuing poultry profits

Ronald Keter

Pursuing poultry profits

Ronald Keter, a poultry farmer in Kenya’s Kericho County, says that a key lesson he learned during his Cultivate Africa’s Future training was to keep in touch with as many customers as possible and expand one’s network.

So, after completing the training program — which included how to add value to a business, writing proposals and marketing — he put his newfound skills to the test by taking to social media and interacting with customers on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. This interaction allowed him to maintain customer loyalty and expand his clientele base beyond Kericho County to neighbouring Uasin Gishu and Baringo.

Peter started the poultry business in 2015, rearing two-month-old chicks to source customers in local markets. Wary of the delicate nature of chicks on account of their vulnerability to diseases and predators, he decided to reduce his risk by rearing poultry at different stages of maturity, from day-old chicks to 4-month mature chickens.

His strategy of rearing poultry at different stages of growth expanded his customer base, which now includes hotels, hospitals, schools and individual customers.

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With skills from the Cultivate Africa’s Future (CultiAF) training and mentorship program, Ronald also moved into growing indigenous vegetables and flower seedlings as a way of diversifying from the chicken business. He sells the vegetables to neighbouring schools and markets. The customers for his seedlings include agriculture multinationals, big tea companies and flower farms.

By diversifying his business, he has been able to more than double his monthly profits from an average of CAD$566 when he first started to CAD$1,360 today.

Ronald first heard about the CultiAF training from a fellow farmer. The program is run by the United States International University-Africa’s Global Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship Center.

In a twist, the COVID-19 pandemic initially provided something of a boost to Roberts’s business: with people from urban and peri-urban areas moving back to rural areas after losing their jobs, many were looking for simple, non-cash-intensive businesses for investing their savings. “However, as the pandemic continued, the mature poultry business took a hit with school closures and customers cutting down on their spending,” he recalls.

Feed costs and unstable markets are currently Ronald’s greatest challenges. However, he is working to overcome them by learning the art of feed formulation using local materials from county government extension officers and through his increased online marketing and advertising.

PHOTOS: WREN MEDIA

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