Maseno Enactus team are helping a group of women in Homabay County to realise profits in their poultry project that has stalled for three years due to poor farming methods and lack of market for their produce.
The poultry project located in Katonde village, Karachuonyo Constituency was started by 20 women in a bid to alleviate their families and the village from poverty which is prime in the region, but due to lack of enough knowledge in poultry rearing and poor marketing strategies, the group has incurred losses from time to time.
The women who are mostly widows decided to form a self-help group by the name Wakonyre Poultry Project (WWG) with the help of Regional Empowerment Development Innovations (REDI) and Valdosta States University (VSU) from the USA but the group has had lots of challenges that have curtailed the progress of the project.
To ensure the aforementioned problems are things of the past, Maseno Enactus team have accepted the responsibility to create and get market the poultry produce for the women.
The marketing will be made possible through research on available market demands in areas around Maseno, Kisumu, Homabay and any other area that can be beneficial to the project’s success.
The team will also help in daily data collection, sampling and giving reports to REDI and VSU .
To make it possible, Enactus members will visit WWG in Katonde village three times a week to monitor and assess the progress of the project. In addition, they will communicate with the women on daily basis through phone calls.
The communication is meant to track relevant information for data compilation, bonding and to ensure flow of information in addition to travelling to Katonde village.
REDI director Dr Levy Odera confirmed that it is important for the women to work with students from Maseno University because they will help in data collection, sampling and report writing which is vital for development of the project.
“The women are illiterate but they have a desire to raise their standards of living hence working with university students will motivate and give them direction in the project. The students will also help to connect the women to REDI and VSU,” he said.
To ensure all partners are equally involved, the students will organise monthly skype meetings to deliberate on important and developing issues in regards to the project.
The project is an initiative of the partnership that was signed between Maseno University's Enactus team, Valdosta States University from the US and Regional Empowerment Development Innovations.
The project is funded by REDI and VSU.
REDI is a Non-Governmental Organization with members in Kisumu and the United States of America.