Gambia: 5 June | By Yero S. Bah |
MODOU SILLAH: CALLS ON DIASPORA GAMBIANS TO INVEST IN POULTRY FARMING TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT AT HOME
The Founder and CEO of KJ Poultry Farming Modou Sillah of Tujereng village in Kombo South, West Coast Region has explained the rationale behind his farming activities to GunjurOnline on Thursday June 4, 2020 at his home.
Mr Sillah said, that upon high school graduation from Muslim Senior Secondary School, he went into farming because not everyone can be working in the office saying subsistence farming is his background since childhood at the village.
The former CEO of the Kaira Karantaba Youth Development Association for a yearlong has explained that, entrepreneurship is one sector that can earn entrepreneurs quick and fast decent living noting that the first merit of it is self-employment but also creating opportunities for others around you.
He added that, his first training was sponsored by NEDI, FASDEP and GICAF through the EMPRETEC project where he learned some of the basic financial, entrepreneurship and management skills, skills he is currently implementing at his poultry farm and home garden in Tujereng village.
Mr. Sillah continued that, he trained two youths to be managing the Kaira Karantaba Village Development Association before leaving the job to form his own KJ Poultry Farm and gardening business saying he believes in embarking on personal business adventures as they were thought by the EMPRETEC program.
The young Gambian entrepreneur is also into the rearing of ruminants noting that compliments the poultry and gardening project as he uses the local manure from the animals and birds on his garden which has crops such as okra, pepper, bitter tomatoes and spring onions.
The current CEO of KJ poultry started his poultry with 200 birds but has been able to sell all the first badge of birds and has now purchased the second badge of birds of 250 whilst hoping to expand his poultry farm to 2500 layers and 500 broilers, as well as aiming to employ 3 to 7 people in the near future.
However, Mr Sillah highlighted that, lack of capital to start business, the technical know-how of poultry management and skills in farmers, the importation of virtually everything about poultryfrom abroad, and marketing are key challenges that Gambian farmers are faced with saying if government can provide feed mills in the country and establish a hatchery center then the burden on farmers and customers would be reduced drastically in the Gambia. “We want to give Gambians the best poultry products as local chickens are healthier compared to the imported ones.”
The KJ Poultry Farming CEO noted that, coronavirus has seriously hampered his poultry business since it dwindles his customer base, reasoning that people are conscious and skeptic of their spending since they have no clue as to when this whole Covid19 episode will end.“Therefore, people are not spending much in this coronavirus era.”
The 2015 former Songhai agricultural trainee in Benin called on the diaspora Gambians to invest in agribusiness and poultry farming in order to create employment for their “brothers and sisters” back home saying not everybody should travel to the West for greener pastures. He finally admonished fellow poultry farmers to take care of their birds effectively by using all the required biosecurity measures to keep their birds healthy for better marketing.
Mr. Sillah is a top 20 finalist of the GIZ entrepreneurs as he qualifies for the Start-Up kits whilst living the “cat out of the bag”to GunjurOnline during the interview.