Everyone trying to venture into a poultry farming enterprise in Kenya generally decries the general lack of funding to set up the business.
You have to realize that you don’t have to start big. You can start with as little as 40 chicks and that costs only Ksh.4000 to Ksh.6000. Surely, if you are dreaming about venturing into a poultry farming enterprise, you must be able to raise this amount of money to start you off on your poultry farm.
You don’t have to start with a mega poultry house. You can always improvise and partition a little space in your existing home or shed where you can house your chickens.
Yet, there are people who might still need extra funding running into hundreds of thousands of shillings or even millions with which they can scale up their operations pr start a poultry farming enterprise from scratch. For that, you can tap into various sources of funding for your poultry farming enterprise which can be both formal and informal. Let us look at some of the options when it comes to funding access for your poultry farming ventures in Kenya:-
Agricultural Finance Corporation
If you are already doing something slightly big such as a poultry farm with thousands of chickens, a poultry feed processing plant or a poultry hatchery business, you can explore the funding opportunity offered by the Agricultural Finance Corporation. For more information on their financing activities, you can check out the Agricultural Finance Corporation website.
Youth Enterprise Development Fund
Many young Kenyans have used the Youth Enterprise Development Fund to access crucial funding for their agribusiness projects. However, there are certain mandatory requirements that you may need to fulfill before you access the funding. For more information on this funding opportunity, send an email to info@youthfund.go.ke.
Commercial Bank Loan
This is the least favourite option for many Kenyans due to high interest rates but if you are looking for urgent financing for your poultry project, you can discuss the loan options with your bank. There are commercial banks that have set special loan packages for agricultural enterprises that may carry lower interest rates. A couple of years ago, Equity Bank Kenya Ltd had such a package. You could get financing through this option at fairly flexible terms.
Crowdsourcing
There are various crowdsourcing websites now available that Kenyans can use to raise money for their agricultural enterprises. One of the most popular is Zidisha crowdfunding platform which is an online microledning community that connects lenders directly to borrowers. However, you will have to start small and work your way up before you are able to borrow large sums of money on the platform. You can also use a mobile fundraising platform such as M-Changa to raise money for your poultry farming initiatives. You can check out the website here http://changa.co.ke.
There are various other organizations that support poultry farmers in Kenya that you may approach for assistance. Examples of such organizations include TechnoServe and Farm Africa.