Relief to youth and PWDs as poultry rearing kicks off to reduce unemployment

The Executive Director of Kind Heart Organisation Kenya, Mark Nyasoro was addressing journalists  during distribution of chicks at Kotieno Village in Rachuonyo South Sub-county, Homa Bay.[James Omoro]

Youth and persons with disabilities in Homa Bay County have received support for starting poultry rearing to enhance job creation in the area.

The young farmers who operate in three groups have been trained and supported with 1200 chicks to start poultry production.

The three farmer groups operating in Rachuonyo South Sub-county are Future Seed, Kawere East Persons with Disabilities and Buoye Block Poultry Farmers.

The farmers, the majority of whom are youth, received support from an organisation christened Kind Heart Organisation Kenya.

Mark Nyasoro, the Executive Director of Kind Heart Organisation Kenya, presided over the distribution of the 1200 chicks which are two weeks old, feeds, feeders and drinkers to the farmers at Kotieno Village.

In the distribution, each of the three groups got 400 chicks. They also received  chicken feeds which will last for one year, feeders, and drinkers.

The distribution came after the organisation built a modern poultry house for each group.

Nyasoro said their objective was to promote employment creation among the youth and disadvantaged members of the society.

“Our main aim is to empower the community by opening avenues for generating direct income. This poultry project will create employment for the people of this region,” Nyasoro said.

Nyasoro said they were supporting the farmers free of charge.

“We started this project by training the farmers on chicken production. Our donors from Germany have taken care of the expenses for this project, and the role of the groups is only to take care of their chicks,” Nyasoro said.

He said their vision is to empower the groups to form a co-operative society with various value chains which include chicken rearing, feed formulation and egg hatcheries. This will be done through partnership with Homa Bay County Government department of Agriculture and Livestock Production.

Kind Heart Organisation Kenya’s Joyce Adhiambo said the training and preparations put in place will enhance the sustainability of the project.

“The knowledge the farmers have on this venture and the procurement done here will make this project successful,” Adhiambo said.

Eunice Mboya, a young farmer from Future Seed group, said the venture will alleviate them from unemployment, which had affected them after completing their university education.

Mboya said most of them had been looking for jobs, including tenders but they had not succeeded.

“Our efforts of looking for employment have not been successful. I am happy this project is going to give us a source of livelihood,” Mboya said.

Brian Ochieng, a farmer, said the project will accord them a sustainable source of livelihood.

He argued that it will cushion them from engaging in injurious ways of earning a living.

“Most of us are university graduates suffering from unemployment. This project will enable us to have a sustainable source of livelihood. It will also cushion us from economic activities which can endanger our lives as young people,” Ochieng said.