$3M poultry farm to advance Karrau’s economic development

Government’s vision for development of Amerindian communities is advancing, with the community of Karrau, Region Seven beginning its poultry farm.

The economic project is being undertaken by the villagers. Some $3 million of their $7 million COVID-19 relief grant will be used to fund the project.

Toshao of Karrau, Shane Cornelius told DPI that the community is primarily known for its logging and mining activities and as such, the villagers decided to try something different. They believe the poultry venture will be successful due to its close proximity to Bartica and the influx of persons travelling in and out of the community.

“We designed it in such a way that persons within the village would actually benefit directly from the project. So, it is not a traditional village poultry project, but it is intended to operate much like a co-operative society, whereby each resident would be allocated a certain number of chickens,” he explained.

The village council will oversee the procurement of the feed, medicine, and chicks for the venture. Currently, a pen that will accommodate 500 meat birds is under construction, and a similar pen will be built at a later date.

According to Cornelius, the decision to construct the pens separately, would allow them to gauge the community’s market response. This is to ensure that there is no lapse in judgement regarding the project’s profit.

Once the construction process is finished, Toshao Cornelius said the village council “would sign contracts with the residents who would have to pay back storage fee and use of the chicken project and so basically, we are targeting two areas -where we would be providing a source of income to residents, and also providing poultry meat to markets close by.”

The remainder of the community’s COVID fund allowed the council to procure a $2 million All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), while $1million was used to improve the ICT hub.

In 2021, government earmarked a one-off $1.73 billion COVID-19 relief fund aimed at creating opportunities for livelihood, youth development, and the enhancement of village infrastructure. It was one of the many measures implemented by President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali to bring relief to citizens affected by the pandemic.