by Okinyi Francis
As the Covid 19 pandemic continues to ravage world economies, poultry farmers cry foul as a result of dwindled revenues. Kenya is no exception since the country and the East African region had just faced a swarm of locusts who have massacred agricultural produce. I embarked on a research to understand the ravaging effects of Covid 19 on Poultry farming. My first stop being Ongata Rongai Self Help Group which is a group of women, widowed and with no family members to take care of them. I was ushered in their farm by the business manager who is responsible for the sales of eggs and broiler chicken.
Looking at the revenues generated pre corona virus spells an industry that is on the brink of collapsing. Before the corona pandemic the business was able to make sales of more than one hundred thousand shillings monthly less all overhead costs such as feeds, supplements and labor. However currently the business is only able to make fifty thousand Kenya shillings. Miss Janet Muthoni attributes the reduction in sales to an increase in the costs of supplements. According to her, layers the amount of weekly revenue spent on feeds alone is inconsistent with the cumulative revenue the business realizes. Besides, the organization has been forced to cut down on food rationing and offloading five hundred layers in a bid of making the business sustainable. It was also evident from the research that landlords have not reduced the rental fees of the one-acre property that is used to house the farm.
Miss Muthoni has made a plight to the Agricultural Ministry at Kajiado county for an intervention on the looming crisis small scale businesses face during this tough period. Notable from the proposition is that the county government should procure feeds and sell them to local businesses at a subsidized fee rather than let industries exploit farmers who are also threatened by the Covid pandemic.
Legal minds 