Lango, Teso reaping big from chicken trade
Oct 11, 2010
Steven Okello has learnt a thing or two about the chicken trading business. He knows that to succeed, you need to be fast on your feet. He also knows that you have to use the right language to persuade your prospective customers and provide them with useful information.
BY JOSHUA KATO
Steven Okello has learnt a thing or two about the chicken trading business. He knows that to succeed, you need to be fast on your feet. He also knows that you have to use the right language to persuade your prospective customers and provide them with useful information. He has been selling chicken at Corner Kamdini in northern Uganda for four years.
“This is the only business I have known ever since I came back from the camp,†he explains.
There are over 30 traders at Corner Kamdini selling chicken to motorists. The traders chose this area because of its strategic location. The intersection is used by vehicles coming from Lira, Gulu and sometimes Arua. More chicken selling points have been established along the Kamdini-Lira road, Lira-Soroti road and the Kamdini-Gulu road. Travellers can now buy chicken at Aber, Aboke and Loro on the Kamdini-Lira road.
Okello gets the chicken from several areas in Lango, including Dokolo, Barr, Awiyo, Amolatar and Alebtong. “I travel there once a week to get the chicken,†he says. He usually has a stock of at least 20 chicken.
Lango and Teso are perhaps the leading chicken growing areas in Uganda. With a little organisation, Teso and Lango areas can adopt local chicken as the major commercial enterprise. In Lango, the average price of a cock is sh5,000. The same cock will be sold at sh18,000 in Kampala.
Most of the chicken is kept on a free range system. On the Soroti-Mbale road, roadside chicken is mainly sold on the stretch from Soroti and Kumi.
Edward Ocen, an extension worker with a local agriculture supporting non-governmental organisation, says: “Methods of production are still traditional. Farmers let loose their chicken on a free range basis in the morning and either lock them up in the night or let them spend the night on trees.â€
But even under this system, many farmers are happy. “I sell a minimum of 20 chicken every two months, earning at least sh100,000,†boasts Michael Ogwang, a resident of Agwata in Dokolo.
A local fowl takes close to a year to mature, compared to the hybrids that take one or two months. However, Teso and Lango farmers prefer keeping the local breeds because they are easier to keep and are less demanding.
Suzan Odok keeps chicken in Loro, Oyam district. “I have 300 birds at any one time, however some farmers have as many as 1,000 local birds in their homes,†she explains. Odok’s 300 chicken fetch her at least sh900,000 if she sells each at sh3,000
According to Dr. Connie Kyalisiima of Makerere University and a researcher in rearing local chicken, there is an improvement in production.
He says under the traditional system of chicken rearing, chicks are hatched with a body weight of 33 grams, however, with the run or syncronised system, they are hatched weighing 36 grams.
Under the traditional free range system, chicken weigh around one to one-and-a-half kilograms after six months. However, under the syncronised system, they weigh over two kilograms.
The numbers of eggs hatched by each chicken and the number of hatchings is also higher. Chicken farmers and dealers should also be helped to market their fowls properly.
Marketing is survival of the fittest. For example at Corner Kamdini, there is no organised market stall for chicken sellers. Instead, each of the chicken sellers dashes to an approaching vehicle hoping to make a sale.
“Traders from Kampala come to the villages to buy chicken. We need an organised market, just like a cattle market were these people can come and buy the chicken,†Ogwang says.
According to Oyam LC5 chairman, Col. Okello Engola, plans to modernise chicken rearing in the region, including better marketing are already in the pipeline.
“Through the various agricultural production projects in the district, we are sensitising farmers on how to earn more from their chicken. In future, these farmers will certainly be earning much more because they will be organised,†he says.
Steven Okello has learnt a thing or two about the chicken trading business. He knows that to succeed, you need to be fast on your feet. He also knows that you have to use the right language to persuade your prospective customers and provide them with useful information. He has been selling chicken at Corner Kamdini in northern Uganda for four years.
“This is the only business I have known ever since I came back from the camp,†he explains.
There are over 30 traders at Corner Kamdini selling chicken to motorists. The traders chose this area because of its strategic location. The intersection is used by vehicles coming from Lira, Gulu and sometimes Arua. More chicken selling points have been established along the Kamdini-Lira road, Lira-Soroti road and the Kamdini-Gulu road. Travellers can now buy chicken at Aber, Aboke and Loro on the Kamdini-Lira road.
Okello gets the chicken from several areas in Lango, including Dokolo, Barr, Awiyo, Amolatar and Alebtong. “I travel there once a week to get the chicken,†he says. He usually has a stock of at least 20 chicken.
Lango and Teso are perhaps the leading chicken growing areas in Uganda. With a little organisation, Teso and Lango areas can adopt local chicken as the major commercial enterprise. In Lango, the average price of a cock is sh5,000. The same cock will be sold at sh18,000 in Kampala.
Most of the chicken is kept on a free range system. On the Soroti-Mbale road, roadside chicken is mainly sold on the stretch from Soroti and Kumi.
Edward Ocen, an extension worker with a local agriculture supporting non-governmental organisation, says: “Methods of production are still traditional. Farmers let loose their chicken on a free range basis in the morning and either lock them up in the night or let them spend the night on trees.â€
But even under this system, many farmers are happy. “I sell a minimum of 20 chicken every two months, earning at least sh100,000,†boasts Michael Ogwang, a resident of Agwata in Dokolo.
A local fowl takes close to a year to mature, compared to the hybrids that take one or two months. However, Teso and Lango farmers prefer keeping the local breeds because they are easier to keep and are less demanding.
Suzan Odok keeps chicken in Loro, Oyam district. “I have 300 birds at any one time, however some farmers have as many as 1,000 local birds in their homes,†she explains. Odok’s 300 chicken fetch her at least sh900,000 if she sells each at sh3,000
According to Dr. Connie Kyalisiima of Makerere University and a researcher in rearing local chicken, there is an improvement in production.
He says under the traditional system of chicken rearing, chicks are hatched with a body weight of 33 grams, however, with the run or syncronised system, they are hatched weighing 36 grams.
Under the traditional free range system, chicken weigh around one to one-and-a-half kilograms after six months. However, under the syncronised system, they weigh over two kilograms.
The numbers of eggs hatched by each chicken and the number of hatchings is also higher. Chicken farmers and dealers should also be helped to market their fowls properly.
Marketing is survival of the fittest. For example at Corner Kamdini, there is no organised market stall for chicken sellers. Instead, each of the chicken sellers dashes to an approaching vehicle hoping to make a sale.
“Traders from Kampala come to the villages to buy chicken. We need an organised market, just like a cattle market were these people can come and buy the chicken,†Ogwang says.
According to Oyam LC5 chairman, Col. Okello Engola, plans to modernise chicken rearing in the region, including better marketing are already in the pipeline.
“Through the various agricultural production projects in the district, we are sensitising farmers on how to earn more from their chicken. In future, these farmers will certainly be earning much more because they will be organised,†he says.