High feed prices force farmers out of business
Jun 17, 2011
UGANDA may soon run short of chicken and other poultry products due to the rise in the cost of feeding the birds. <b>John Semakula </b>talked to farmers who said the price of a 70kg bag of feeds had risen from sh50,000 to sh75,000 in three months.
UGANDA may soon run short of chicken and other poultry products due to the rise in the cost of feeding the birds. John Semakula talked to farmers who said the price of a 70kg bag of feeds had risen from sh50,000 to sh75,000 in three months.
However, the expensive feeds are not available and farmers have been forced to sell off their birds.
For 20 years Martha Kikomeko, 51, earned a living rearing poultry. Kikomeko made sure that she booked new stock when the existing one was running out to maintain her income and sustain a chain of supply to the market.
But in late April, after selling 180 broilers, she realised she had made no profit because of the increasing prices of the feeds. She immediately ran to Afayo Farmers Shop, where she had booked another set of day-old chicks, to cancel her order.
“I had injected sh800,000 in the previous stock and that is what I got after selling off the birds. I decided to wait for the prices of feeds to come down,†said Kikomeko, a resident of upper Kauga in Mukono central division.
Since April, the price of a 100kg bag of maize bran has doubled from sh50,000 to sh120,000. Consequently, the prices of poultry feeds have risen by similar proportions. Since feeding constitutes three quarters of the poultry production costs, the price of feeds is the biggest factor in determining its profitability.
After painfully abandoning poultry farming, Kikomeko is now feeling the pinch. Her income has dwindled and she is pondering what other business she can go into.
Like Kikomeko, many other farmers are suffering and turning away from poultry farming. Monica Mwijuka, 34, of Kirinya, Kiira Town Council in Wakiso district, was rearing over 200 broilers. She had stocked feeds that had lasted five weeks.
But last month, when her feeds ran out and she went back to restock, the company that was supplying her with the feeds had temporarily closed due to lack of maize bran.
Mwijuka then moved around, looking for cheaper feeds, but was unsuccessful.
For the other suppliers who had feeds, the price of the feeds had almost doubled since her last purchase.
Mwijuka discovered that if she stocked another batch of feeds at the existing market prices, she would make a huge loss that would possibly kick her out of business.
With two weeks remaining for her broilers to reach the selling off age, Mwijuka surrendered and sold off the immature broilers at sh7,000 instead of sh9,000. Even then, she was lucky to get that price. Other farmers have sold off immature birds for half that to avoid making further losses.
Mwijuka is currently involved in other small businesses as she waits for the price of chicken feed to drop. Her poultry house is now empty.
Those who have insisted and remained in the business have had to devise other means in order to survive the rising cost of feeds.
Besides cutting down the number of broilers from 600 to 200, Justine Mukasa, 48, a resident of Butebe village in Mukono central division, is feeding them on dry banana, cassava and potato peels.
“I collect the peels from the neighbourhood and dry them. I then mix them with the maize bran and feed my chicks. They don’t have any problem and they produce the right quality,†she said.
Mukasa, a widow, cannot abandon poultry as other farmers have done, because it’s the only way she can raise school fees for her children, one of whom is at university.
When she realised that the cost of feeds was going up, Mukasa also planted some maize in her garden and she is now hopeful that when she harvests it, she will reduce the cost of rurning her poultry farm.
Like poultry farmers, pig farmers are also feeling the pinch. But Mary Nakitende decided to hang in there. She was using wheat bran, which is much cheaper than maize bran. But swine fever struck and it killed 75 pigs two weeks ago. She used to earn between sh500,000 and sh1,000,000 a month, but that is no more.
She, however, will not abandon the business. Instead, she has gone back to the drawing board.
Another farmer who is also holding on to his business is Dr. Joseph Kusasira, the managing partner of Eden Agro Enterprises in Seeta, Goma division Mukono district.
Kusasira, who has been rearing poultry for the last 20 years, says he will not quit because he is now familiar with the fluctuations on the market. “In the months of May, June and July, poultry farmers will not make profits and many will abandon the business. As a result, those of us who persist will reap big in the near future,†he says.
Like the other farmers who have cut down their stock, Kusasira has also reduced the number of layers at his farm from 2,000 to 1,000, to feed them well for a better yield of eggs.
He wants the Ministry of Agriculture officials to meet farmers to suggest measures which can be applied to address the problem of the increasing cost of feeds.
“One of the measures which can be used to address the problem in the near future is if we stop exporting maize grains to the neighbouring countries. It’s okay for us to export maize flour and leave the maize bran for local consumption,†he suggests.
With the increasing cost of animal and poultry feeds, anybody would have expected the price of a tray of eggs and of chicken to increase, but it’s not the case.
Moses Ssegawa, a poultry farmer and dealer in eggs and poultry feeds, observed that instead of the tray of eggs going up, it has fallen from sh6,000 to sh5,500.
Meanwhile, the price of chicken has not risen as its consumption is low. Ssegawa says shrewd businessmen are exploiting the situation to cheat farmers by adding saw dust and sand to the feeds.
I am desperate to sell off my chicken
By Nelson Naturinda
Angel Musinguzi has been in the chicken business for two years. However, he said the scarcity and the high cost of chicken feeds have affected him.
According to him, it has become increasingly impossible to rear chicken. He says he had 1,000 layers and was getting over 14 trays of eggs per day, but now, he wants to sell them off and send away the workers.
“If I got anybody who would relieve me of this burden and buy these birds, I would be happy,†he says.
Moses Tibekiza of Namataba, Kira town council, has been rearing chicken for the last six months. He says when he started the business, a 70kg bag of broiler starter cost sh50,000. He said the price has increased and he can no longer afford to feed the birds.
Tibekiza, who had 500 birds, says he went to his suppliers, Kagodo Farmers in Kireka, two weeks ago and they told him the feeds were no longer availabe. He was told the price had increased. He wanted 10 bags, but was given only two bags. He said he tried many other suppliers and it was the same story.
He opted to feed his birds on layers mash, which greatly affected their growth and weight. He said the weight of the birds dropped from 1.5kg to 850g, which affected their sell price. He sold each bird at sh5,000 instead of the usual sh7,500.
But with the reduced price, he has not sold all of them and he predicts a loss of over sh2m.
He says he cannot bring new stock until he is sure the price of the feeds has stabilised.
However, the expensive feeds are not available and farmers have been forced to sell off their birds.
For 20 years Martha Kikomeko, 51, earned a living rearing poultry. Kikomeko made sure that she booked new stock when the existing one was running out to maintain her income and sustain a chain of supply to the market.
But in late April, after selling 180 broilers, she realised she had made no profit because of the increasing prices of the feeds. She immediately ran to Afayo Farmers Shop, where she had booked another set of day-old chicks, to cancel her order.
“I had injected sh800,000 in the previous stock and that is what I got after selling off the birds. I decided to wait for the prices of feeds to come down,†said Kikomeko, a resident of upper Kauga in Mukono central division.
Since April, the price of a 100kg bag of maize bran has doubled from sh50,000 to sh120,000. Consequently, the prices of poultry feeds have risen by similar proportions. Since feeding constitutes three quarters of the poultry production costs, the price of feeds is the biggest factor in determining its profitability.
After painfully abandoning poultry farming, Kikomeko is now feeling the pinch. Her income has dwindled and she is pondering what other business she can go into.
Like Kikomeko, many other farmers are suffering and turning away from poultry farming. Monica Mwijuka, 34, of Kirinya, Kiira Town Council in Wakiso district, was rearing over 200 broilers. She had stocked feeds that had lasted five weeks.
But last month, when her feeds ran out and she went back to restock, the company that was supplying her with the feeds had temporarily closed due to lack of maize bran.
Mwijuka then moved around, looking for cheaper feeds, but was unsuccessful.
For the other suppliers who had feeds, the price of the feeds had almost doubled since her last purchase.
Mwijuka discovered that if she stocked another batch of feeds at the existing market prices, she would make a huge loss that would possibly kick her out of business.
With two weeks remaining for her broilers to reach the selling off age, Mwijuka surrendered and sold off the immature broilers at sh7,000 instead of sh9,000. Even then, she was lucky to get that price. Other farmers have sold off immature birds for half that to avoid making further losses.
Mwijuka is currently involved in other small businesses as she waits for the price of chicken feed to drop. Her poultry house is now empty.
Those who have insisted and remained in the business have had to devise other means in order to survive the rising cost of feeds.
Besides cutting down the number of broilers from 600 to 200, Justine Mukasa, 48, a resident of Butebe village in Mukono central division, is feeding them on dry banana, cassava and potato peels.
“I collect the peels from the neighbourhood and dry them. I then mix them with the maize bran and feed my chicks. They don’t have any problem and they produce the right quality,†she said.
Mukasa, a widow, cannot abandon poultry as other farmers have done, because it’s the only way she can raise school fees for her children, one of whom is at university.
When she realised that the cost of feeds was going up, Mukasa also planted some maize in her garden and she is now hopeful that when she harvests it, she will reduce the cost of rurning her poultry farm.
Like poultry farmers, pig farmers are also feeling the pinch. But Mary Nakitende decided to hang in there. She was using wheat bran, which is much cheaper than maize bran. But swine fever struck and it killed 75 pigs two weeks ago. She used to earn between sh500,000 and sh1,000,000 a month, but that is no more.
She, however, will not abandon the business. Instead, she has gone back to the drawing board.
Another farmer who is also holding on to his business is Dr. Joseph Kusasira, the managing partner of Eden Agro Enterprises in Seeta, Goma division Mukono district.
Kusasira, who has been rearing poultry for the last 20 years, says he will not quit because he is now familiar with the fluctuations on the market. “In the months of May, June and July, poultry farmers will not make profits and many will abandon the business. As a result, those of us who persist will reap big in the near future,†he says.
Like the other farmers who have cut down their stock, Kusasira has also reduced the number of layers at his farm from 2,000 to 1,000, to feed them well for a better yield of eggs.
He wants the Ministry of Agriculture officials to meet farmers to suggest measures which can be applied to address the problem of the increasing cost of feeds.
“One of the measures which can be used to address the problem in the near future is if we stop exporting maize grains to the neighbouring countries. It’s okay for us to export maize flour and leave the maize bran for local consumption,†he suggests.
With the increasing cost of animal and poultry feeds, anybody would have expected the price of a tray of eggs and of chicken to increase, but it’s not the case.
Moses Ssegawa, a poultry farmer and dealer in eggs and poultry feeds, observed that instead of the tray of eggs going up, it has fallen from sh6,000 to sh5,500.
Meanwhile, the price of chicken has not risen as its consumption is low. Ssegawa says shrewd businessmen are exploiting the situation to cheat farmers by adding saw dust and sand to the feeds.
I am desperate to sell off my chicken
By Nelson Naturinda
Angel Musinguzi has been in the chicken business for two years. However, he said the scarcity and the high cost of chicken feeds have affected him.
According to him, it has become increasingly impossible to rear chicken. He says he had 1,000 layers and was getting over 14 trays of eggs per day, but now, he wants to sell them off and send away the workers.
“If I got anybody who would relieve me of this burden and buy these birds, I would be happy,†he says.
Moses Tibekiza of Namataba, Kira town council, has been rearing chicken for the last six months. He says when he started the business, a 70kg bag of broiler starter cost sh50,000. He said the price has increased and he can no longer afford to feed the birds.
Tibekiza, who had 500 birds, says he went to his suppliers, Kagodo Farmers in Kireka, two weeks ago and they told him the feeds were no longer availabe. He was told the price had increased. He wanted 10 bags, but was given only two bags. He said he tried many other suppliers and it was the same story.
He opted to feed his birds on layers mash, which greatly affected their growth and weight. He said the weight of the birds dropped from 1.5kg to 850g, which affected their sell price. He sold each bird at sh5,000 instead of the usual sh7,500.
But with the reduced price, he has not sold all of them and he predicts a loss of over sh2m.
He says he cannot bring new stock until he is sure the price of the feeds has stabilised.