The country’s poultry industry continues to grow, with more and more young Gambians becoming entrepreneurs in this vital sub-sector, especially in rural Gambia where opportunities are limited across the board.
Mr. Lamin Drammeh is a poultry farmer at Kiang Jifarong village in Kiang West, Lower River Region (LRR)– a venture he started in 2019 with about twenty-five (25) chicks only. He recalled ‘life was stressful’ before he started the poultry venture; but today, thanks to the bird rearing business, he gets his family needs and pays himself a salary, as per his explanation during a recent WhatsApp interview with Mansa Banko Online.
Drammeh cited marketing as a major challenge in his region as well as access to poultry products as there are no processing plants for poultry products in Lower River Region. His main push factor into this business, he claimed, is that most of the poultry products or goods in the Gambia are imported from neighboring countries, and that he has the desire to change these narratives by investing in this lucrative sector of the economy.
Drammeh assesses the market demands by raising relevant questions to customers and potential clients first, before supplying his poultry products and services, noting that poultry has many products such as the eggs, chicken and manures.
“I normally ask my clients their poultry needs before I supply them. Besides, there are different types of birds like broilers, layers and the blue Holland,” he added. He also uses social media to market his poultry products online.
Drammeh attributed his decision to join the poultry sector, to the great deal of frustration in the Gambian labour market where, he said, employees usually don’t have enough time with their family members; there are frequent transfers from one work station to another, coupled with meager salaries. Conversely, he argued, life is better with him in poultry business and he is closer to his family spending quality time with them- with lesser stress.
The Kiang West poulterer however, noted that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the poultry market was dormant as businesses were largely halted, local markets ceased operations while businessmen pondered new marketing strategies to make ends meet. He remembered at the peak of Covid-19 outbreak in the country, “people were running away from each other”, and it was really frustrating.
Drammeh also lamented access to poultry feeds, chicks, medication and the necessary funding as key challenges that he goes through, like many other poultry farmers across the country, saying he usually orders products from Senegal.
However, despite these endless challenges, the young Kiang Jifarong poultry farmer is determined to establish his own poultry company, and provide job opportunities to at least thirty (30) Gambians in the next two years.
