Passion for poultry farming pays off

After being retrenched from her job, a North West woman turned to her passion for poultry farming to make a living. 

It is a decision she has yet to regret. 

Initially self-funded, Onkokame Dicuwe, 33, turned to the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) for assistance. 

“I applied for funding from the NYDA in 2021, but it was only approved in 2022. They bought material to build a chicken coup with a capacity of 500 chickens, feed and some of the [farming] equipment," she said, adding the grant was to the value of R50,000.

The venture was her second attempt after her first effort failed in 2017.  “I was not ready so I just stopped and forgot about poultry farming.” 

Now unemployed after being retrenched from her job as a sales adviser, she mustered the courage to give her childhood passion another attempt. “During Covid-19 in 2020, I decided to give it another try,” she said. 

She then founded her company, Dicuwe Poultry Farming (Pty) Ltd, which specialises in chicken farming, production and processing.

The company raises day-old chickens for about 40 days before they are slaughtered and sold in the formal market.

“I started with about 100 chicks. But after I received funding from the NYDA, it rose to about 300 to the now 500. The funding was a massive boost for me. It allowed me to scale a bit, something I never really thought was possible,” said the Tlapeng village resident.

From profits and savings, the business was able to purchase much-needed equipment.

She said her passion for poultry started while she did agriculture as a subject in high school. 

“I wanted to study further after I finished my matric but I couldn’t due to a lack of funding. I did initially enrol for a business management course at the Northern Cape Urban TVET College in Kimberley but I had to drop out soon after because there was just no money and my mother was struggling,” she said.

Faced with an uncertain future, she was fortunate to secure employment as a sales adviser for a franchise furniture shop in Taung, North West. 

She planned to save money that would allow her to return to university. However, she instead decided to pursue poultry farming.

“I started this business and on the side, I would do short courses and training programmes just to have an understanding of how it works,” she said. 

The business currently employs two people. 

Dicuwe recently secured a larger plot at which she plans to build a 3,000 capacity structure that will accommodate both her broiler and layer chickens, which she aims to introduce to her operation.

– This article was first published in GCIS’s Vuk’uzenzele