Nine farmers were chosen for the opening of the
project which is now into the sixth batch of chicks.
However, for this batch only four farmers are in. The
others are out for varying reasons and they could not
be contacted when this newspaper visited the area.
Participants were provided with baby chicks, all
the supplies for growing the birds and a guaranteed
market. All of the farms were equipped with the
appropriate amount of feeders, automatic water
dispensers and other requirements.
Speaking to Stabroek News, Hope and two other
farmers - Roy Porter and Tricia Newton - disclosed
that they were very happy when the PNCR announced the
project last year. The 28-year-old Porter, a father of
five, said the project came on stream at a time when
he was unemployed after he had a falling out with his
former employer. Under the project, which is being
supported by Bounty Farm Ltd, Porter said, the company
would provide each farmer with 500 baby chicks and 44
bags of feed for each batch. Each batch is expected to
last for six weeks after which the chickens are
collected by the company and a percentage of the
profit ranging between 20% and 35% is given to the
farmers.
Both Hope and Porter acknowledged that the
arrangements between the company and the farmers are
reasonable.
Located at Friendship south, Porter's farm is in
his yard. He said he welcomed the project from its
inception and will always support the initiative.
"But other persons have to come on board…
is just eight of us now and they are plenty people who
want to join."
However, he agreed that this would be subject to
approval from Bounty Farm.
But while Porter is looking out for his fellow
villagers, Hope said he was hoping Bounty Farm would
increase his quota of chicks from 500 to 1,500.
"I have the capacity to take an increase. I have
the pen space and everything and would be happy to
have some more."
Both men acknowledged that at the end of every
batch they would have birds worth over $40,000. While
they did not go into details as to how much they would
earn at the end of each batch, the farmers said they
were happy.
"We can't complain we are not providing our
own chicks and feed, our financial input is roughly
about $2,000 per batch so the percentage we earn is
really reasonable," Hope said.
Newton, 30, said she has been with the project from
the inception. She too would like to have an increase,
but said it would depend on her performance and at the
moment, she did not have the accommodation for an
increase nor the money to make any investment. Newtown
said she had suffered some losses since the programme
started.
In the first batch, several of her baby chicks
died, but since then she has been able to maintain a
reasonable farm. Like her colleagues, the woman
depends on the farm for her sustenance and does not
see herself dropping out.
"I will continue once I am getting the
support," Newton said.
Porter told Stabroek News that he had no other job
and depended on the business heavily for the upkeep of
his family. Hope said the situation was the same with
him, except that he rears a few pigs.
Hope, who is 35 years old, said he preferred to
rear birds than lime on the streets. He recalled that
prior to his involvement in the project he used to
operate a grocery shop just off the Buxton railway
embankment. Hope said that for no apparent reason, the
police, during one of their raids, broke down his
stall and threw away his goods among other things. He
said at present a lawyer was looking into the matter
for him.
In terms of challenges, Hope recounted that in the
first batch he lost as many as 200 birds. An
arrangement was worked out and he received another
supply of baby chicks. Porter said apart from the
every day maintenance of his farm he did not have any
other problems.
Capital support for the initial project was
approximately $1.9 million with the range for each
participant being between $170,000 and $235,000.
