Ndasilohenda Katangolo-Nakashwa is the Feedmaster Female Farmer of the Year in the poultry division.
The award stems from a competition run earlier this month, where different poultry farmers showcased their products and shared stories of their exploits in the poultry sector.
While the award is a welcome addition to the 37-year-old Katangolo-Nakashwa’s poultry business, her story begins long before the initiation of the competition.
Her journey into the poultry business was shaped by the fact that she grew up around chickens and loved them from a tender age.
It was, however, only in 2017 that her long-standing ambition to run her own poultry business was realised after attending a poultry training, hosted by the University of Science and Technology.
“I was introduced to the world of poultry and got invaluable information on the sector, which inspired me to launch my dream. Things were explained better and even things I thought I knew felt completely new to me. I really learned a lot there,” she said.
Armed with this new set of skills, Katangolo-Nakashwa wasted no time in getting started.
She acquired 50 chicks from a well-known distributor in northern Namibia and got to work from a makeshift room on her property at Omusimboti village.
The village is located some 25km west of Oshakati.
Her excitement soon waned as she lost close to half of the chicks she had bought, attributed to a lack of handling skills.
“It was a difficult period, losing 20 chicks just like that. I thought it was going to be easy – and that all the chicks I bought would eventually be able to lay eggs for me. But I had to pick myself up and proceed with the business. I was not going to give up that easily,” she said.
The remaining chicks grew to be mature chickens and start laying eggs, some of which she incubated and produced more chicks. Soon, the number of eggs laid exceeded the business owner’s consumption, and she started selling them off to neighbours, including some of the live chickens – giving birth to a new dimension of the business.
“My business model consists of selling both eggs and also broilers for meat. I farm with the Australorp chicken for eggs, while I use the Lohmann Brown and the Boschveld chicken, also known as the marathon chicken, for meat and eggs.
Katangolo-Nakashwa has now grown her business and has already branched out to Omakange on the edge of the Kunene region, where she supplies eggs and broilers too.
Her prime market target, she said, has been the informal sector, which she believes has huge potential for businesses like hers.
The self-made entrepreneur encouraged others, especially women, to venture into poultry, as it is a sector that does not require a lot of resources to set up and run.
All that is needed, she said, is a small piece of land, proper chicken holding facilities and a great will to succeed.
It is vital, however, to keep upgrading your skills and knowledge on poultry farming if you are to succeed in the business, Katangolo-Nakashwa noted.
“For me, it was a trial and error – and I got many things wrong in the process. I lacked technical skills on how to weigh and handle chickens, and also how to determine the feed portion. It is not as easy as people put it; you need to acquire these technical skills as you go to improve your business and avoid losses,” she said.
Poultry diseases are also a challenge to the sector and can wipe out an entire business if not handled well through vaccination, Katangolo-Nakashwa said.
She advises those in the sector to constantly seek information on how to improve their poultry farming to be successful.
“There are various people and institutions with extensive knowledge of this sector. Don’t be on your own; visit them and be equipped with vital knowledge,” said Katangolo-Nakashwa.
- tjatindi@gmail.com