14.08.2024
Swapping unemployment for chicken farming
Agricultural training for refugees, internally displaced people and host communities in Ethiopia: a success story for people like Bontu Tesfa.
After completing a Bachelor’s degree in biology, Bontu Tesfa from Ethiopia spent a long time looking in vain for a job. All that changed when she heard about a training programme to become a chicken farmer. ‘I applied straight away,’ the 23-year-old explains. ‘As a teenager, I often helped out at poultry farms in the region and I always used to enjoy working with chickens.’
Chicken farming is one of four agricultural training programmes being offered in Ethiopia with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The training courses are aimed primarily at refugees, internally displaced people and host communities in the project areas. The programme is financed by the German Development Ministry (BMZ) and the European Union. Demand has been high, with over 500 people already taking part in the short courses. Theoretical knowledge is then put directly into practice. The training courses are designed to ensure that graduates find work quickly.
Tenfold increase on start-up capital
Some of them therefore spend six months on commercial farms to gain experience and ideally be taken on. The remaining graduates – like Bontu Tesfa – take the plunge and establish their own business with the help of a start-up grant. The course taught her everything she needed to know about chicken farming – including how to ensure chickens get a balanced diet and what vaccinations are required. She also learned how to draw up a business plan and run a successful company.
Tesfa then set up an entrepreneurial group with four other trainees. To get their business up and running, they received seed capital of around EUR 1,600 from GIZ, which they used to buy their first chickens, feed and equipment for the coops. ‘We now have 10 times more than our start-up capital,’ says Tesfa with pride. ‘Yesterday alone I sold 200 chickens.’ But she has no intention of resting on her laurels: ‘My aim is to expand and create as many jobs as possible for others, because I know how hard it is when you’re unemployed.