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Achieving more together through chicken farming

The chicken farmers from the Senegalese women’s association “Leket Gui” (bottle gourd)

Achieving more together through chicken farming

The Senegalese-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (CSAEM) supports both returnees and the local population. This includes women in the “Leket Gui” association (Wolof for “bottle gourd”). It has 205 members and the women’s ages range from 28 to 65. Some of these association members have teamed up in Yeumbeul, a district on the outskirts of Dakar. They raise chickens – very successfully.

It all started in March 2021 when 30 women formed a group called “Sounou Guinar” (Wolof for “our little chicks”). But there was a lot to do before everything was ready and they could set up the association.

Association chairperson Wachite is grateful for their cooperation with the CSAEM.

Chickens and feed as a start

The CSAEM provided 750 chicks to the association to get them started. The members were also provided with 2 tons of feed, a manure removal machine, troughs and a freezer. “Without this support, we wouldn't have been able to afford the necessary equipment and training to get our business started”, says Wachite. She is the association’s chairperson. She deals with all the administration, organisation and communication with CSAEM.

A chest freezer is an important piece of equipment for the women’s business.

Important knowledge gained through training courses

The Senegalese-German Centre also organised a training course that taught the women the basics of chicken farming. This knowledge was very useful, but it wasn’t enough to be able to run a business. When the women realised this, they once again turned to the CSAEM. Another training course was arranged for them: the women learned how to run an independent business.

The women employ some men

Both training courses brought success that also spread. 30 more women joined the association. Shortly after that it opened a second farm with 500 chickens. This farm is less than a kilometre away from the first farm.

The women have employed 3 men to assist them. These men do jobs like slaughtering and preparing the chickens and taking the finished meat to the association’s shop. They all stay in touch via a WhatsApp group.

Khoudia helps sell the products in the association’s shop.

Their own shop

In addition to the chicken meat, the association also uses its shop to sell food from other producers. This includes eggs and vegetables as well as ground ginger and pepper. Business is so good that 2 female sales assistants have been employed to run the shop. “We earn extra money by being able to do all this at the same time”, says Khoudia. She’s one of the 2 members who run the shop for the women’s association.

The income is shared fairly

The association sells a lot of chicken meat to wholesalers. The women also supply their products directly to restaurants and households. “The income from our farm means we can pay some expenses at home, such as clothing and school supplies for the children“, mentions Dieynabou, who runs the shop together with Khoudia.

Egg production is the next goal for this women’s association.

The association divides the income into 3 parts. The monthly costs, such as the salaries, the water and electricity bills, and the rent bills for the coops and shop are paid first. What's left is divided into 2 parts. One part goes into a savings fund – for repairs to damaged equipment and to pay for new chicks. The other part is shared among the association members after some of it is donated to disadvantaged families.

Training each other

The women want to expand their business in the future by also keeping laying hens to produce their own eggs. There are plans to then have an additional group to look after those birds and the egg business. These new members will be trained by the existing members. The women want to keep growing their business until the association has 6 or more chicken farms.

As of: 11/2022

This text is written in simple language. We want to be sure that it’s easy for everyone to understand.

The income from our farm means we can pay for clothing and school supplies for the children.
Dieynabou

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