By Okong’o Oduya
Busia County, Kenya: More than 1000 farmers from Matayos in Busia County have received more than 10,000 chicks from the Jeff Okanya Foundation as one of the measures to address the poverty level.
Ms. Sella Were, one of the farmers from the Nasewa Location in the Matayos sub-county, expressed her joy after receiving 100 chicks from the foundation and she hopes that upon maturity she will sell chickens and take care of her family for the rest of her life.
According to her, the 100 chicks she received 2 months ago will act as capital to kickstart her poultry farming.
“I received 100 chicks from this foundation 2 months ago and I am hopeful that in the next four months, I will be able to sell them and move to the next level with poultry farming. Improved local breeds famously known as Improved kienyeji chicken, take a period of four months to mature ready for the market,” she said.
Her sentiments were echoed by Ms. Scolastica Khaseke from Lunga village in Nasewa, adding that she received 50 chicks from the foundation and she is hopeful poultry farming will change her life since it requires little management.
“I am hopeful that with poultry farming my life is going to change. This is just a start but with time I will be able to move on by myself as well as benefit others in my community.”
Mr Wycliffe Kusinyo the beneficiary of the project says that poultry farming is the only way Matayos residents will come out of poverty due to its simplicity and ease of management compared to other modes of farming.
“This is a good project in fighting poverty in this region. Poultry farming is not involved like other modes of farming. Little space and capital you are good to go,” he said
While distributing chicks to farmers Mr Geofrey Okanya the founder and the manager of the foundation said that the foundation has so far distributed more than 10,000 chicks to farmers across the constituency.
“This project has already benefited 1000 people across the Matayos sub-county and we have distributed 10,000 chicks to farmers just to make sure that we address the poverty level among our people. Our target is to reach out to as many farmers as possible by the end of this year,” said Mr. Okanya
According to him, despite Busia being a county good for farming, it is still rated among the poorest counties in Kenya despite being a well-positioned county to thrive economically.
“If you look at the poverty index in Kenya, Busia is among the poorest counties yet is well positioned to do well economically. But with plans that the governor Dr. Paul Otuoma is putting in place I am sure with collaborations with other leaders in the county we will be able to thrive,” he stated
Addressing the media while distributing chicks to farmers, Mr Okanya noted that Busia people require little support from the government and other stakeholders then they will be good to go
“People of Busia are capable of taking care of themselves and changing their lives economically, all they require is a little support from the government and other stakeholders. What I am doing is giving them a kickstart for them to pick it up from there so that when we come back after 10 years we want to see them at another level,” he noted.
