A retired lecturer, Hajiya Halima Ahmed, has shared her inspiring journey of building a successful poultry farming business over the past 25 years, encouraging women to venture into entrepreneurship and become financially independent.
Hajiya Haliima, who retired three years ago from Kano State Polytechnic, said she ventured into poultry farming after being motivated by a friend who was already in the business.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with SolaceBase, she explained that she started the business with only 200 birds at her residence before gradually expanding to a larger farm.
“I started poultry farming 25 years ago with a small number of birds at home. Over time, the business kept growing from 200 birds to 500 and later 1,000 birds before we eventually acquired land and established a proper farm,” she said.
According to her, although she also engaged in fish farming, poultry farming remained her major source of business activity.
She described the venture as rewarding despite the challenges associated with the sector, especially during the hot season when poultry farmers often experience high mortality rates among birds.
“The major challenge poultry farmers face is mortality, especially during the hot season. If a farmer is not careful and diligent, the losses can force them out of the business,” she explained.
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Hajiya Halima noted that providing adequate ventilation and cool drinking water for birds are among the key measures necessary to reduce deaths in poultry farms.
She revealed that introducing open drinkers on her farm significantly reduced mortality after she experienced heavy losses some years ago.
“Birds consume a lot of water during the hot season, and if the water becomes hot, they refuse to drink it. Since I introduced open drinkers, the mortality rate has dropped drastically. Alhamdulillah, things improved,” she added.
The retired lecturer also identified poor marketing and customer retention as another challenge facing poultry farmers, particularly in the sale of eggs during periods of low demand.
She advised farmers to adopt strategies that would help them maintain customers even during difficult seasons by adjusting prices reasonably without incurring losses.
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Speaking on women’s empowerment, Hajiya Haliima urged women, especially retirees, to engage in productive ventures instead of remaining idle at home.
“There are many women who have retired but are doing nothing. I encourage women to engage in businesses, not only poultry farming. But whatever business you want to do, you must start early and remain patient before achieving success,” she said.
