14 Jan 2014

Helplessly, 24-year-old Ms Bridget Camm, of D’Kar village in the Ghanzi district, watches her chicken project with anxiety as it collapses due to bad weather conditions.

Ms Camm’s Youth Development Fund (YDF) financed project started in 2010 with 90 chickens and three years down the line, she has only 48 left. With the heat in the area reaching skyrocketing temperatures, coupled with chicken diseases, she thinks her project has been so adversely affected that going ahead may not be advisable.

She notes that although her chickens have no problems laying eggs, high temperatures cause them to reject the eggs instead of incubating them. Her troubles are many, she says citing the uncertain survival of her biggest market, the famous Kuru Dance Festival, which she used to supply with eggs.

With the festival’s future in limbo, she says the market for her chicken produce is also in limbo. Ms Camm adds that, although her farm is located about 50 kilometres from the Ghanzi township, big businesses in the township require constant and specific supply of chicken produce.

“Unfortunately I cannot meet their requirements,” she says, adding that the situation has created problems for her because the Department of Youth expects her to repay her loan.

However, instead of wasting time crying, she has joined her mother who runs a restaurant in the settlement as a way of raising some funds through the wages she earns.

As her own project is on the verge of collapse, sometimes she divides the money she has earned between the loan installments and buying chicken feeds, a very expensive option, she laments. Chicken feeds can only be found at private suppliers at high costs, says Ms Camm.

She nonetheless appreciates the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) which has been with her for the past four years even at a point when she thought of quitting. She says they supported her through short courses on business management and marketing, and by assisting her to find a market for her produce.

Through the support, she has managed to diversify her project by breeding goats with the help of her parents and she plans to add broilers as well.

All this is done so that she can have something to fall back on while the chicken production is still low to avoid defaulting on the loan repayments. In addition, the farmer says she has hope that with her efforts and the support from other farmers, who during market days and agricultural shows share their experiences, she will grow to become a successful farmer.

With the opening of Hana and Toteng mines, she is optimistic that the ventures will open new doors for her to market her produce. ENDS