Trias stimulates the Ghanaian market for guinea fowls
Guinea fowl is a real delicacy in Ghana. Still it remains difficult for the holders of these pheasant-like birds to develop a healthy business. Trias-partner Guiffa supports the farmers in their rise towards the market.
©Trias
The Northern regions of Ghana are characterized by extreme poverty and a poorly developed infrastructure. In order to fight the rural poverty, Trias supports small-scale farmers. One of the turntables in the program is the Guinea Fowl Farmers Association (Guiffa) that unites the holders of guinea fowls.
Guiffa has about a thousand members and this number is growing steadily. The poorer members of Guiffa often unite in groups, hoping to obtain a better price for their guinea fowls.
“A major problem is the high mortality of young guinea fowls”, says Rogier Huijmans, Trias-employee in Ghana. The members let their guinea fowls graze on the land, where they run the risk of being killed by snakes or birds of prey. Young guinea fowls also die by lack of food or heavy rainfall. However, the biggest cause for mortality are the cold temperatures.
“The challenge that Trias and Guiffa have taken on is to drastically reduce the mortality, which sometimes amounts up to eighty percent”, says Huijmans. “By stimulating other methods of production, where farmers use housing, Guiffa expects to reduce the mortality. Better feeds and medication will also help to achieve this goal”, explains Huijmans.
Although the meat and eggs of the guinea fowl are very popular, the members of Guiffa lack a good market. A constant supply of quality products is of major importance. To improve production, Guiffa offers its members trainings in the field of entrepreneurship.
Furthermore the member organization is scouting around for new potential markets and puts farmers in contact with traders. ”One of the members of Guiffa has specialized in the meat trade”, tells Huijmans. ”Today this farmer is buying up guinea fowls from other members.”
Finally Trias mediates between the rural banks and Guiffa to obtain micro credits for the members. “Farmers often need working capital at the start of the season, while revenues from the production are only available at the end of the production cycle. “A financial bridging in the form of a micro credit is very helpful”, says Huijmans.