Maria David
STARTED with only a few chickens in 2018, Immanuel Shitwomunhu is now one of the few poultry farmers in the Ohangwena Region meeting local demand.
The Onhanadi poultry project, located 75 km west of Eenhana, is among the few poultry projects that are thriving.
Shitwomunhu indicated that he started poultry farming to address the high cost of meat products in shops and to create a source of income for himself.
Video by Maria David
“Currently, buying meat and fish in shops is expensive, and chicken is the only affordable meat product one can offer, hence I became a poultry farmer,” he said.
He added that starting the project was never a walk in the park, as he used to order chicks from elsewhere for production.
Shitwomunhu later invested over N$30,000 in two hatchers to meet local demand, an investment that has been paying off for him.
According to Shitwomunhu, the hatchers each have their own capacity: the smaller one can hold 352 eggs, while the larger one has a capacity of 520 eggs.
He explained that the demand for chicks kept increasing, which still needs to be addressed despite acquiring two hatchers.
“Poultry farming is not a one-way street; you need to invest in resources,” he added.
Shitwomunhu said he later received assistance from the Japanese Embassy through the Ministry of Agriculture in the form of a feather plucker for meat production.
He said that this made production more efficient and faster for him and his customers, saving time spent on the manual method of plucking feathers from chickens after they were soaked in warm water.
Additionally, Shitwomunhu mentioned that he has managed to create employment for locals, hiring two people to help run the farm.
He also indicated that the produce is mostly sent to customers in Rundu, Otjiwarongo, Outapi, Tsumeb, and Grootfontein, with 50% of the products being sold locally within the region.
Hisao Nishimaki, the Ambassador of Japan to Namibia, said that one of their pillars is to invest in agriculture. Through their investment in Namibia, they were able to assist small-scale farmers.
Nishimaki emphasized that their goal is to boost local farmers, and the Onhanadi poultry project is one example of this effort.
