Why People Need to Take Livestock Farming More Seriously

Photo description: A collage image combining photos of a chicken and a pig from Shutterstock and a goat from Freepik.

Gradually, more people in Ghana, especially the youth, are starting to find agriculture more attractive. However, I find it interesting that many of those I’ve met would have owned some chickens, goats, sheep and occasionally, some pigs, yet most of them (farmers) have made little to no effort to advance the business side of things.

You would be surprised to know that only a small percentage of farmers in Ghana have registered their farms. It is common knowledge that agribusiness in Ghana tends to be capital intensive. The fact that your business is not registered alone has the potential to block many funding opportunities. The reason is that banks usually only deal with lawfully registered entities, so if you want to increase your chances of being funded, do well to at least register your farm.

An old Chinese proverb says that “the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory”. Yet, there are still many farmers in Ghana who don’t seem to care about keeping records. For instance, I once had a client who had a heated argument with a customer of hers.

The client I’m talking about was a poultry farmer, who like most people, didn’t care about keeping records, but I managed to convince her eventually. She later agreed to let me handle her bookkeeping. At the time, her eggs were in high demand to the extent that her customers had to pay in advance, two or three days before they had their eggs delivered to them.

Later on, I would record all of this info on my computer. Now, this client of mine received advanced payment from a customer, which she duly supplied her three days later. However, two days after my client claimed to have delivered the eggs, the said customer accosted her and complained bitterly about how she had still not received them.

Upon hearing them go back and forth, all I had to do was check my records. Lo and behold, it turned out that my client had indeed delivered the eggs. I later showed the proof of egg delivery to my client’s customer, and she apologized and left. So you see, keeping good records could save you from a lot of potential disputes and headaches.

Of course, if poultry feed prices increase by almost 50% in just seven months, you know that spells trouble, but I can’t help but apportion some of the blame to the farmers. One farmer was lamenting in a Facebook group post about how middlemen could sell eggs as high as GH₵ 30 but would complain bitterly when the farmers sell them (middlemen) eggs for just GH₵ 18.

 Now, this exposes a pattern where some farmers do not increase the prices of their eggs when feed cost shoot up. Instead of them putting in a little more effort and sell directly to consumers for a higher profit margin, they are content with offloading their products to middlemen. They (farmers) will later complain that the poultry industry is collapsing.

It is a good thing that more and more people want to venture into agriculture. However, to improve food security in Ghana and create wealth, we have to stop seeing agriculture as a mere hobby and ensure that all the necessary steps have been put in place to make our farms more economically viable.

If reading this article piqued your interest in starting your livestock venture, it will be in your best interest to write a good business plan. Even if you don’t necessarily have the time to write your own, don’t worry. Just send us a WhatsApp message by following this link https://wa.me/233592239127. And we’ll draft a professional business plan for you at a very reasonable price.

Are you tired of too much paperwork involved in keeping records on feed, egg collection, vaccination, mortality, profit and loss, etc.? Worry no more. We are developing a software application that simplifies poultry management. Follow this link if you are interested.

Finally, are you ready to start your dream poultry farm, but don’t know how to construct the chicken house, brood the chicks, source the right materials, etc.? Just follow this link https://wa.me/233592239127 for more enquiries.