Changing lives, a hen at a time

By  Jevans Nyabiage

Helping hand: Three years ago, four campus students started a revolutionary project that has begun to alleviate poverty in rural areas

In 2010, four University of Nairobi students started a rather odd project that most people then thought was a joke.

Frustrated at not being able to find internships, the students met in a dorm room and began discussing projects they could start that would hopefully make them some money.

Finally, they settled on starting something around the cultural practice among many Kenyan communities of giving visitors a hen.

Using Sh30,000 that they had set aside from their Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loans, they started the One Hen Campaign Project to empower women and youth.

Working under the Innovation Empowerment Programme and with the Cereals Growers Association, the four buy hens, cage them and give beneficiaries one each.

Each beneficiary is then required to return two chicks after six months for others to benefit from the project.

young entrepreneurs

The four, James Makini (25), Moseri Mac Samuel (26), Dennis Nyasente (25) and Linet Ongwae (27), say they came up with the idea to alleviate poverty.

The young entrepreneurs say they have given out more than 10,000 hens and cages through the project, and won a number of international awards.

Initially, the One Hen team did not need to buy hens as each person donated about five from their respective homesteads.

“Rearing indigenous chicken is a common practice in rural households since it is simple, requires little space and is not expensive as the animals scavenge around for feed,” Makini, the project’s chief executive, said.

“We saw it as an excellent gateway to rural homesteads. We give each member of a youth, women or self-help group an indigenous hen and cage. This also  provides a platform for us to provide free training on agribusiness, poultry management, entrepreneurship and financial management.”

During their first function to give hens and cages to the first group of beneficiaries, their mentor, Mr David Nyameino of Cereal Growers Association, invited the chief guest, Ms Lucy Muchoki, the CEO of  Pan Africa Agribusiness and Agroindustry Consortium. Her organisation also helps young people venture into agribusiness.

She gave One Hen a grant of Sh100,000 to help them reach more members of the community.

They group later got another Sh40,000 grant from USaid-Kenya’s Yes Youth Can programme and a loan of Sh300,000 from Equity Bank to expand the project.

Major boost

“Our work has been recognised both locally and globally. We have won four global monetary awards, and this has really boosted our activities. We have also applied for a loan from the Youth Enterprise Fund and are awaiting a response from them,” Makini added.

The group also started a sacco to encourage members to save and to protect them from unscrupulous traders by providing an avenue for collective marketing of chicken products.

“From our experience, even the most careless farmer given an indigenous hen will have at least 100 chicks a year,” Makini added.

For instance, Beatrice Nyaboke, 33, a single mother with little time to care for her chicken, received her hen a year and a half ago.

She currently has  30 chicken in her homestead.

“I sold some chicken to help pay school fees for my four children. Whatever remained went into the sacco. I’m very happy because my savings helped me open a salon recently.”

One Hen only accepts members from groups registered with the Social Services Department.

They charge each person a Sh200 membership fee, which entitles them to join the project, get a hen and cage, and join the sacco.

“We will be launching the Sacco officially on Thursday in Riakimai, Nyamira County,” Makini added. “We work in Nyamira, Kisii and parts of Narok, but if we get additional funding we will expand to other counties.”

They also support their project with proceeds from their cages — which won them an award in South Africa in 2011. Each costs Sh700, with members allowed to pay in two installments, while non-members pay the entire amount on order.

Involving children

One Hen also involves children in an innovative way.

Working with primary schools, they identify the top three and bottom three pupils each year, and give each a hen and cage.

In collaboration with each school’s Parent Teacher Association, the pupils are given basic agricultural management and entrepreneurship training.

The are allowed to eat or sell produce from their hens, but to encourage savings, one egg per week is “saved”. It is sold and the money put into the pupils’ accounts. The pupils, parents and teachers meet once a month to manage the accounts.

To ensure sustainability and promote social responsibility, pupils donate chicks to the following year’s programme.

The latest recognition for the One Hen Campaign Project came from the World Bank last month. The organisation was looking for projects that have created jobs, and One Hen got the most votes.

“It is simple yet effective to help those in need in developing countries — it is a refreshing example of what real development work is without the econometrics. This and similar initiatives need to be supported to curb worrying trends in youth unemployment rates,” Jaime Saavedra, a vice-president at the World Bank, said of the project.

Makini says they have plans to set up a feeds manufacturing factory, chicken processing plant and agrovet.


 

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