30 Nov 2016

In her quest to escape the clutches of unemployment and gain financial freedom, Warona Pelotshweu, 27-year-old single mother of two opted to exploit the love of her life, farming, cutting a niche on poultry production.

Ms Pelotshweu explains that from an early age, she has always been fond of birds and during her trips to the lands and cattle post she would frequent the chicken house.

“I grew up in a household that loved farming and we would visit the cattle post during school holidays. I then developed the love for birds,” she explained during an interview recently at her poultry farm.

The love for birds drove her to learn from others and make some research on raising chickens mostly Tswana that she was familiar with.

 Little did she know that this will turn up to be her cash cow.

In March 2016 she secured start-up capital from the Youth Development Fund (YDF) and went straight into business stocking up 500 day-old chicks and creating employment for another person who serves as a poultry attendant.
Ms Pelotshweu is very thankful to the government for changing her life.

Before YDF, she did not have it easy. She worked at a restaurant and struggled to make ends meet.

Upon hearing about YDF, she went to the Department of Animal Production where she was assisted with drafting a proper business plan aimed at poultry, specifically broilers and organised a one week training in Mahalapye.

On top of that, she also holds a Certificate in Hotel and Catering from Ikageng Girl Guides in Serowe, yet she elected to embark on a farming journey.

In Mahalapye, Ms Pelotshweu was drilled in poultry production and the training was sponsored by the government.

“I paid no cent for the training, the government did. And the education I received was very pivotal in my success as a poultry farmer. I thank the government for that,” said the grateful farmer.

After being funded, she went for further training on business skills something which has been helpful in ensuring that her business is sustainable in the long run and survives the challenges.

Since she secured funding eight months ago, in four batches of her production cycle, Ms Pelotshweu has stocked about 2 300 Cobb chickens and managed to expand her poultry operations.

 Her market includes individual consumers, restaurants and general dealers who go for bulk orders.

 Her Cobbs retail at P50 for slaughtered chickens and P65 for live birds.

“The market is still there. It’s very fertile and I am increasing my birds to supply more,” she said.

 The long distance she traverses to reach the terrains of the Makoba cattle post and the bush veld she has to cross on foot three times a week does not deter her.

Ms Pelotshweu works hard each day to deal with the challenges that come with running a farming business.

Transport is a major concern as she also has to transport the birds for slaughtering in Serowe.

She also complains of expensive chicken feeds revealing that the Cobb chicken requires a lot of feeds.

“This white chicken eats too much. You have to feed it a lot,” she said.

Weather change badly affects the Cobbs as they are very sensitive birds. The sounds of thunder when it rains can easily wipe out the birds.

Also, heat especially when it is summer becomes a major problem and can easily cause deaths.

This then results in increased mortality rates of which the allowable and expected mortality rate is only 10 per cent, said Ms Pelotshweu.

Even so she still soldiers on. “Their deaths do not demoralise me,” she says in a defiant tone, as she grabs one of the three week birds for a checkup.

This is her sixth batch and the heat has forced her to half production to give the birds enough space.

Unbroken, Ms Pelotshweu says she treats the challenges as “a necessary learning curve.”

She acknowledged that for one to run a successful farming enterprise, he or she must at least have simple and basic business skills, noting that record keeping has enabled her to see and experience progress and growth.

A look into her business records reveals a declining trend in mortality rates.

Record keeping, she reveals, allowed her to forecast mortality rates thus enabling her to plan well and initiate contingency plans so she is not caught off-guard.

She takes her business seriously and knows well the actual meaning of separate entities.

She has used the profits of the business and her savings to construct a poultry house at her family’s cattle post and will soon kiss rental charges bye-bye.

The new project is expected to start operating in December with 500 birds. The foundation has already been laid.

Her insatiable thirst for success ensured that just seven months after being funded, she opened poultry in Serorome Ward with 100 Cobbs.

This, she says, apart from increasing her cash flow, helps her monitor the performance of the other production unit at Makoba cattle post.

Unlike many other beneficiaries of YDF who are still yet to start servicing their loans despite the grace period elapsing, Ms Pelotshweu has started paying back the loan in October.

Her business acumen could not go unnoticed.

Mr Thabo Dimeku, coordinator at the Youth Centre Organisation (TYCO) which played an important role in her success story explained that she did not leave the organisation’s mentorship after she got funded, unlike many other youths.

“Most youths after funding get excited and abandon the mentorship from TYCO, but Warona kept on coming back for business advice,” he said.

Expressing disappointment, Mr Dimeku further stated that most youths who were funded with Ms Pelotshweu are now out of business as they could not take their projects seriously.

Mr Dimeku advised that operating a business requires commitment from an individual as well as seriousness.ENDS