A section of poultry farmers attending the training from Gulu Senior Secondary School in Gulu city

Stephen Odong

Gulu City

More than 100 farmers in Gulu City were trained in the poultry farming business. The training that was sponsored by Hendrix Uganda, River Poultry, and Pur Lonyo farmers shop was conducted at Gulu Senior Secondary School in Berdege Layibi division for free to all the farmers.

The mayor of Berdege Layibi division Hon Patrick Oola Lumumba said this training is to encourage the farmers to start keeping local chicken for the purposes of business with the aim of breaking a circle of buying chicken from other region because currently majority of Acholi people buy chicken that come from Lango and Teso sub region and yet they have the potential to keep their local chicken and above all their local chicken is the best in the whole Uganda so far.

He added that broiler chicken is sold at around 15000shs but the well grown local chicken is sold at around 45000shs whereby if some keep hundred local chick and have grown it to maturity, he or she can get a total of 4.5 million in six months’ time which is enough to up lift the person from poverty.

According to Lumumba, after the training all the participant are encourage to join the corporative called Gulu poultry grower cooperative so that they start keeping chicken in large scale and sell it as group to the ready buyer like river poultry and some hotel owners who claim that there is always scarcity of chicken in the region forcing them to go and buy from Kampala and other sub region more especially after the month of January to May, they always have scarcity.

The training is part of ‘’Pong Dwongo’’ resolution that everyone must come up and do something to help Acholi people become economically vibrant.
    
 
Mayor Bardege-Layibi Division Patrick Lumumba engaging the farmers.

Mr. Norbert Ojok, the veterinary person and one of the trainers who work with river poultry narrates their major target as a company they do value addition because they buy chicken from farmers process it to remove unwanted part and later package the caucus.

He added that they were doing it as a company and later they thought it twice to involve the local farmers by buying chicken from them as a result they learn that farmers are not doing the right thing right from housing and treatment because they luck knowledge to identify what is good and what is not good for the chicken.

Mr. Peter Onek a resident of Kweyo parish Berdege Layibi division Gulu city one of the participants who attended the training said they were lacking a lot of things to be done as far as poultry farming is concerned because people did not know, but through this training they have gained a lot of new skill and knowledge  that will help them on how to manage poultry farming, controlling chicken from getting infected in the farm and he believes people who pass through this training are no longer going to be the same people like before and he believe people are going to start serious poultry farming for business.