In mid-2020, Ms. Ashat Jalaludeen made her living hawking sachets of cold water near Yola, the capital of Nigeria’s Adamawa State. Daily income was a pittance, and the work on the crowded streets was fraught with many dangers for the 2013 university graduate.
Opportunity knocked for Ashat when she was identified by the local Social Welfare Board (SWB), which previously partnered with USAID through the Feed the Future Integrated Agriculture Activity (IAA), as someone who could potentially succeed with a small business.
Though she had no experience, Ashat showed a keen interest in poultry farming. After encouragement from the SWB, Ashat enrolled with IAA for six weeks of training under its intervention on good care, nutritious feed, and medication of poultry.
After raising three “test chicks” successfully, IAA provided her a soft loan to purchase a carton of 50 more. With her first sale, she made a 20 percent profit, about 20,000 naira ($40), a small fortune to Ashat. A year later, she is on her ninth cycle of poultry production and maintains more than 100 chickens and turkeys, earning a steady 35,000 naira ($70) a month. She now can pay her daughter’s school fees, medication for her elderly parents, and rent for a one bedroom apartment.
Her husband, a tailor, says he is pleased about Ashat’s progress, and Ashat herself can hardly believe her good fortune. “The poultry business through IAA has impacted my life positively in a lot of areas,” she said. “I was unable to meet my domestic needs, but now, I resolve all my issues myself — health, child school fees, and such. If I need money, I sell a few chickens. I won’t wait for anything or ask for a loan from anybody again.”
Report Credited to USAID
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