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From what I have noticed, farmers in Ghana, for the most part, take their work seriously. They ensure they give their birds the recommended feed and administer the prescribed vaccines but one thing I realize is farmers forget the main reason why they started in the business in the first place (i.e. to make money). This is why most poultry farmers will never be rich even though it is a well-known fact that poultry farming is a highly lucrative business. Whenever you log in to Facebook or Twitter, you always hear of gurus who advertise books on poultry farming or organize 10-day training sessions for farmers (yes this is all good) but what they fail to teach you is how to manage your farm financially (the most important aspect of the business). Below, I discuss some mistakes many farmers make because they don’t make financial literacy a priority.
- They fail to prepare a business plan: I’m not saying it is compulsory to pay us GH₵ 1,000 (even though we are giving you a 50% discount) for us to prepare a professional business plan for you. All you need is a simple written document to put down your operational and financial goals so that it serves as a valuable guide to tracking the progress of your business but surprisingly, most farmers take this for granted and hence do not make any significant financial progress. Follow this link https://tinyurl.com/y8at8hox if you want to learn more about the importance of business planning.
- They Fail to Keep Financial Records: Most farmers in Ghana especially find it unimportant to keep accurate financial records and with devastating effect. I’m sure you’ve met a farmer who has been in the industry for years but still isn’t making any significant financial progress. When financial records aren’t tracked, it would be difficult to know whether your business is progressing or not hence may cause you to stick with an unproductive project when otherwise it would have served you better if you changed course.
- They are reckless when it comes to debt: Usually, farmers in Ghana don’t have a documented business plan or any accurate financial record of their business so naturally, they are frozen out credit facilities offered by established banks at reasonable interest rates, therefore, they (the farmers) are exposed to unscrupulous lenders since they desperately need funding to run operations.
Conclusion
The actual practicality of the poultry farming is very important but it (poultry farming) is called a business because they farmer intends to make a profit, therefore, the importance of financial education cannot be overemphasized.
Pkom 