• benjamin

Avian influenza outbreak in Nigeria (2006)

In 2006, Nigeria experienced its first major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. The disease quickly spread to several states, leading to the culling of millions of poultry birds. Many small-scale poultry farmers suffered devastating losses as their flocks were culled to prevent the disease\’s further spread. The outbreak had a significant impact on Nigeria\’s poultry industry and the livelihoods of farmers.

Rift Valley Fever Outbreak in Kenya (2006)

Kenya faced an outbreak of Rift Valley fever in 2006, which affected both humans and animals, including poultry. The disease caused significant mortality among chickens and other livestock. Poultry farmers lost their birds, and the outbreak also had economic and health implications for communities that depended on poultry for food and income.

 

Avian Influenza Outbreak in Egypt (various years)

Egypt has experienced several outbreaks of avian influenza over the years. These outbreaks led to the culling of millions of poultry birds, both for disease control and public health reasons. Poultry farmers faced losses due to bird culling, movement restrictions, and disruptions in poultry product markets.

Zimbabwe\’s Poultry Industry Challenges (Various Years):

Zimbabwe\’s poultry industry has faced challenges such as feed shortages, disease outbreaks, and economic instability. These issues have resulted in losses for poultry farmers, including decreased production and difficulties in accessing necessary resources.

The above case studies are only a few examples of the fatal losses that poultry farmers have had to deal with over the years while trying to grow their poultry business. If these stories sound like they ‘CAN NEVER HAPPEN TO ME’, I’d like to bring them home a little closer.

We’ve seen situations where individuals, probably neighbors or work colleagues with no previous interest, knowledge, or expertise in poultry farming but with some motivation to find another source of income, head to a local market, purchase a few chicks, and viola! A poultry farmer is birthed. Excited to begin their new business, they begin word-of-mouth marketing by telling their neighbors and anyone who cares to listen that they sell birds. They probably told you they now sell birds. You even looked forward to purchasing a few for the December holidays. As December drew near, they informed you that they no longer sell birds or that the birds were dying. Of course, they were going to suffer a few or major losses. Even the most experienced farmers suffer losses. However, the impact of each loss is determined by the knowledge level of the farmer.

This age-old method of diving into the poultry industry has been a thing for over 2,000 years. Research shows that the first birds to be domesticated are believed to be geese and began in China.

Even though the practice of keeping poultry has been an age-long activity, a lot of poultry farmers still lack the technical knowledge to keep birds for the sake of business. A lot of farmers still suffer avoidable and unavoidable losses.

One reason why many farmers may argue that they have the knowledge to keep birds is that they underestimate the amount of investment that goes into running a profitable poultry business. Investments like time, energy, money, etc. are a few of the sacrifices required to run a successful poultry business.

A lot of poultry farmers have had to deal with breed mortality losses, disease outbreaks, high cost of feeds, extreme weather conditions, predator attacks, poor waste management, regulatory compliance costs, and a ton of other losses just because they have not been exposed to or have refused to accept and take advantage of systems that have been created to improve the practice of poultry.

This doesn’t have to happen. I’d expect poultry farmers to be of highly paid individuals in Nigeria specifically because the consumption rate of poultry and other poultry products is relatively high. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,The discrepancy between production and consumption has driven demand for poultry meat from 69 million metric tons in 2001 to almost 128 million metric tons in 2021. This represents almost an 86-percent increase—averaging 3 percent a year—in global consumption during those 20 years. Poultry farmers should begin leveraging the technology that’s at their disposal to both prevent these fatal losses and to build a profitable poultry business. That’s one of the reasons why Pullus was founded.

What is Pullus?

Pullus is leveraging data-driven technology to connect poultry farmers to affordable finance, better markets, advisory services, global best practices, and quality inputs. Farmers do not have to risk the possibility of farming losses by staying ignorant.

Pullus gives farmers access to:

Loan opportunities: After running at least two production cycles, you will be able to access loans and credits. All you need to do is create an account, and subscribe to a plan. You then stand a chance to benefit from loan opportunities to help scale your poultry business.

Periodic advisory service: The statement “Knowledge is power” isn’t cliche. Many of the fatal losses that farmers have experienced could have been avoided if they had access to information. With Pullus, you can be sure to access the best advise via our blog, social media channels, and workshops.

Available market: A poultry farmer’s dream is the availability of a ready consumer market. With Pullus, you have access to a ready market because if you subscribe to Pullus, we will buy any chicken you produce by kg (weight) at a competitive market price. 

With Pullus, poultry farmers can:

• Plan multiple productions on the same or different farms.
• Access multiple input brands
• Buy only from verified vendors
• Access insurance and affordable credit
• Escrow guarantees customer satisfaction
• Access prebuilt production templates
• Record all expenses in your poultry farm
• Record all income from your poultry business
• Keep daily feeding records
• Keep daily vaccination and treatment records
• Keep daily mortality records
• Keep daily Bird weight records
• Keep daily egg collection records
• Keeps flock management records
• Get vaccination Reminders
• Get reports on the feed conversion ratio
• Get periodic net income report
• Get monthly cost per live bird reports.

We are calling on farmers with a heart for excellence, and eradicating poverty, farmers who want to build sustainable businesses that will outlive them, and farmers with a knack for economic growth to join the Pullus train in boosting local poultry production and supply chain by facilitating access to quality input, advisory and production services, finance and a guaranteed market for poultry farmers in Africa.

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