Cameroonians, irrespective of class and status, have found soft spot for the activity to which many say pays.

Poultry farming in Cameroon pays. Farmers say unlike some informal businesses where turnover is slow and unstable, the sale of table birds puts food on the table for many families. The Alima and Fils Poultry Farm in the Nkolbikogo neighbourhood in Mfou, Mefou and Afamba Division of the Centre Region is located 10 km from Yaounde.

The vast farm boasts three large poultry houses of 3,000, 5,000 and 4,000 chicks and table birds. Its production capacity stands at over 12,000 table birds during each farming season. Jean Melinga Alima, owner of the farm, says the business began in 2005 out of the desire to keep busy after retirement and above all, meet the needs of other family members. The poultry farmer says he pumped over FCFA 200 million into the business and today does not regret his choice, eventhough trying times abound like in other businesses.

The family business employs four youths, two of whom are registered with the National Social Insurance Fund. The beginning was thorny, but the end is what matters, said the poultry farmer. Jean Melinga Alima has a passion for poultry farming and has since 2005 encouraged and trained people willing to take up the activity. His next line of agropastoral activity is fishing, with infrastructure like ponds already in place.

Adjacent to the Alima and Fils Poultry Farm is a small-scale poultry farm owned by the Vouffo family. Alain Vouffo, a photo camera repairer at the Avenue Kennedy business hub in Yaounde, considered an alternative in case professional activity slowed down. His thoughts and openness to the media (La Voix de Paysan) landed him in poultry farming, which he today says was the best thing ever God could offer his family.

Alain Vouffo started with the fattening of 30 birds. “My efforts in the business venture were paying off,” the poultry farmer stated, saying that the number moved to 150 and then to 500 birds. The desire to expand business is burning, but the housing capacity is limited.

Alain Vouffo is planning to open up another poultry farm far from his compacted habitation. He explained that he does not want to put neighbours in an uncomfortable situation. The activity has been running since 2012, with Alain Vouffo, wife and children all committed to the improvement of their livelihoods through what they hold tight to.

Production is therefore an affair of the entire family, while marketting is the sole responsibility of Laure Tankeu Vouffo. This notwithstanding, the weak link is funding, with Alain Vouffo stressing that his project to extend the poultry farm could only be possible if government support was available. He cannot recall where he got the capital but all he knows is that it was “chicken change” savings of over FCFA 300, 000 that kickstarted his business.

“Les amies solidaires” is a group of 25 ladies that has invested FCFA 3.5 million into poultry farming. The group fattens birds at a farm in the Odza neighbourhood in Yaounde and sells table birds to add to their sources of income, said the project bearer, Jeanne Beatrice Nguemo. The association makes FCFA 300,000 to 350,000 during farming seasons.

Poultry farming however, has its challenges, with farmers arguing that the steady increase in the prices of feed, the inability to access funding, the bad faith of some chick providers and the increased mortality rate of chicks, are heart breaking at times.