As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, my host father, Lawo, and the school in Chargel are both working to take on an expanded poultry project in Gambia.
In a nut-shell, they are now part of a program looking for "middle-men" to help produce poultry (chickens) locally for the tourist industry, as well as local consumption. A business is now in place to import the chicks from Senegal and provide the feed and medical attention. The role of Lawo and the school (as well as many others throughout Gambia) will be to raise the chicks and get them fully ready for consumption within 6 weeks, as opposed to the usual 8 weeks, so that they can then be sold within the tourism industry for an even greater profit.
Well, just last week the chicks arrived. All 200 of them!
You may be asking yourself how one actually handles a formal poultry project in Gambia, as opposed to just free range birds. I'm glad you ask. Allow me to explain the process.
First and foremost, you need to have a chicken house. Bear in mind that not just any mud hut will do. No no. The huts for chickens have specific dimensions based on the number of birds each house is intended to hold. For example, Lawo intends to eventually be able to host 500 birds by himself, so he has just recently constructed a second chicken house. Each house is 4 meters by 5 meters.
Additionally, the houses must have several windows at low levels, providing for proper ventilation.
So, first you make bricks.
Then you collect grasses which will be weaved together to form the roof.
Next, build the house.
Put the roof on the poultry house.
Kill the cobra that decides to crawl out of the grasses you are transporting on your head to the construction site!
Resume constructing the roof.
Build the windows and door.
And once your house is finished, just add chickens!
LOTS OF CHICKENS!
Then, you basically just feed and water them for 6 weeks, keep them safe and healthy, and in the end sell them for a hefty profit! Not a bad deal.
And that's how we run a poultry project in Gambia.
