Ousainou M. Jallow made this disclosure in a recent interview with journalists on the impact of the World Bank funded GIRAV project project on his poultry farm.
He recalled that before the coming of the WB matching grant window for SMEs, they were operating with around twelve thousand up to fifteen thousand birds (layers).
“And it was very challenging because then we were operating at a loss because the little profit we make we have to reinvest to make sure the business continues. So, that is where we are right now. So, for the moment we produce one hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty crates per day. But we are hoping that with the coming of the GIRAV support it will upscale our production and boost our capacity both in terms of the number of eggs we collect [daily] and the human resources [workforce]. Because we are expecting to increase the capacity of this farm to fifty thousand layers by the grace of God.”
“And then another important part of it is that it would serve as a source of employment because then we would also increase the number of staff we are employing. Currently, we are about 18 staff. We used to be 16 but then when we completed the first phase of the GIRAV project, that’s the manure processing centre, we employed 2 individuals who would specifically work in the manure processing centre.”
“So, we are also hoping to employ more staff (up to 60) in the very near future.”
This, he added, would also roll down to the community in creating more employment opportunities for the community both local and professional.
On the challenges of agri-business, Jallow attributed that to the imported eggs and the dependence of imported feeds as their major challenges.
He, therefore, appealed to the government to address that challenge to enable them grow their businesses for the interests of the common good.
“Sometimes, we would even be forced to sell our eggs at a very low price and it would be a loss to us. And the implication would be that we will have problems sourcing our feeds. Because if you do not make the revenue as required, you would then face challenges with your overheads, and these come with salaries, medications, and maintenance as well. ”
He flagged that the other challenge they are facing is their feeds which is mostly procured from Senegal, adding that the reason for that is that they do not have industries where feed can be produced in The Gambia on a very large scale.
“So, that is a challenge because for us sometimes we don’t control how much we buy the bag of feed. They will just base it on the exchange rate. You will go today and they will tell you the CFA is up. You have no choice but to buy”.
