Livelihood Program | A community that works together, prospers together

It took some time before a group of 58 members in Misamis Oriental learned the ropes of poultry and livestock raising, but, when they did, they became unstoppable.

The group now grows chickens and pigs in their demo farm which was lent for free by the local government unit.

“World Vision’s economic program in Misamis Oriental hopes to empower families to provide for the basic needs of their children. The journey was not easy, but, together with the community people and with other stakeholders like the local government, department of science and technology and department of agriculture, we were able to find a way to help ensure sustainability of the projects,” explains Kristopherson Ogatis, Program Officer in Mindanao.

Among the 58 members, there are six (6) chick growers who are provided with about 1000 chicks each. The group has a revolving fund to provide for the foods of the livestock. And in turn, when the chickens are fully grown, the grower will sell these to the group.

“Growing 50 chicks will cost around P4,000-P5,000 but will give us a gross income of P10,000-P11,000 if there is no mortality. When the grower sells it to the group, the total amount used for the foods of the chicks will be deducted from the gross, giving the grower a net income of at least P5000 in 30-45 days,” shares an active member and leader of the group, Artemio.

How will the other members of the group benefit from the set up? The rest of the group will then dress and clean the meat, ready for bulk selling to partner merchants. This will help give them an income of at least P70 for each dressed chicken. The income from selling the chickens, on the other hand, is used to further improve the farm.

“In endeavors such as this, we want to emphasize the importance of local value chain. It doesn’t put to waste the efforts of the community members because they already have sure buyers of their produce,” adds Ogatis, sharing that a lot of work was also put not only in capacitating the community to manage the farm but also in partnering with merchants.

Currently, the group has about 95 hens and 10 male birds that mate to produce fertilized eggs. World Vision provided the group with an incubator which hatches the chicken eggs for 21 days. The machine is able to hatch at least 200 eggs at once.

“The chicks will then be given to the growers or will be grown here at the demo farm,” shares Artemio.

Meanwhile, the group has slowly increased the number of gilts provided to them by World Vision. They now have 45 gilts, 10 of which are in the demo farm while the rest is with the other members.

“We are grateful for this opportunity. We are just starting but we got the vision and that is for us to be financially stable so that we are able to keep our children in school and be able to provide for their basic needs,” says 57-year old Merlinda, one of the active members of the group.