A 26 years of age when his peers were jostling for white collar jobs, Allan Okwiri had made up his mind to venture into poultry farming.
Now 35 year old, Okwiri believes that Google and YouTube are the best inventions that man has ever come up with.
The two digital innovations have not only enabled him to keep abreast with the rest of the world, but have been handy in filling the gap left by agricultural and livestock extension officers who are rare to come by nowadays.
Okwiri has over the years relied on these to run his upcoming poultry farm that boasts of quality chicken at Suwinga village on the outskirts of Ugunja Township in Siaya County.
Passionate about poultry farming, coupled with lack of experts to consult on the ground, Okwiri says that Google and YouTube have been his soul mates, to the point that he has virtually become an expert in chicken behaviour and also diagnosis whenever they are attacked by disease.
“Not only do I refer to them for help during crisis, I also do so whenever I want to increase knowledge,” he says adding that birds are very temperamental and have to be kept calm if a farmer wants to achieve results.
The farmer says he was forced to resort to the internet after realizing that he could not get help on the ground as the few extension officers were hard to come by.
To make the matters worse, says Okwiri, even those working in the agro vet shops have very little, if any, knowledge and are of no help to the farmers.
“In our agro vets, most people over the counter have no training. If you visit the shops with no idea, you cannot get assistance as theirs is simply to sell,” he said adding that this is what forced him to dig for information from the internet.
Okwiri says that individual farmers have no one to turn to and have to mine for knowledge as individuals whenever they get challenges.
His journey into poultry farming, he says, began when he enrolled for a diploma course in procurement at the Eldoret Polytechnic.
“The polytechnic had a farm where they reared livestock, among them cows, pigs and even poultry,” he says adding, “I used to visit the farm during my free time to see how the workers were handling the animals and birds.”
Okwiri says that he developed a keen interest on chicken and would pester the workers with questions, from which he acquired basic knowledge on how to keep poultry.
This made him start his first venture in 2009 when he bought layers. Initially, he says, the business was good as he could collect eggs for supply to the local shops in Ugunja.
With time however, cheap eggs from the neighbouring Uganda flooded the market and he could not compete.
On challenges, Okwiri laments that apart from lack of extension services on the ground, the cost of chicken feeds in the country is too high and was discouraging most people from venturing into the sector.
He says that he crosses the border to Uganda to buy maize bran which he mixes with other feeds.
“You cannot make profit if you buy the feeds here in Kenya. It costs twice as much as the price just across the border,” he says.
He says that he chose the Kenbrood birds from Kenchick as they were better in both egg and meat production.
The breed, he says, matures within four months and lays about 25 eggs per bird, compared to pure layer chicken that lays about 27.
The farmer says he strictly adheres to feeding and hygiene programmes for his birds that weigh over five kilogrammes each.
He now earns a living from selling eggs and the hens that he sells at between Sh 1300 to Sh 1500 per bird.
“Currently, I only sell cockerels, not hens that I still need for laying and hatching as I build my brood,” he says.
He says that his worst moment was last year when he lost 350 birds to a disease within a span of a week.
Okwiri says that prior to the incident; thieves had sneaked into the compound at night and stolen 20 birds.
“I woke up at around 3 am to go and check on the pen but as I was opening my door, the thieves noticed and dropped some birds and took off,” he recalls adding that he pursued them up to Luanda market in the neighbouring Vihiga county where he recovered some of his birds in a building mixed with others.
“They are big and heavy and easily identifiable as they are well taken care of,” he says adding that efforts to seek police help to nab the suspects were futile.
He brought the birds back home and kept them with the rest, only to notice changes a week later. This was to prove fatal as they had apparently contracted a disease when they were mixed with others at Luanda.
Okwiri calls on the government, both national and county, to seriously address the issue of extension workers if it expects to have more people venture into agriculture and livestock production.
“The government can do better on this. You have to mine for knowledge as an individual as there is no one to run to in case you are faced with a challenge,” he says.
As a young farmer, he says, technology has been handy in filling the gap as he uses the digital platforms to get solutions that he tries.
“I also watch a lot of videos on You Tube on successful farmers and this gives me motivation,” he says adding he has been able to diagnose some poultry diseases and takes timely action before they decimate his flock. He is also a member of poultry groups in the internet where he learns about new breeds of birds.
Okwiri advices the youth to venture into farming as an employment, adding that it pays. He regrets that most of the youth view farming as a venture best left for the old and retirees.
“When I decided to come home, my friends made fun that I was retiring young,” he says.
About the Author
