Poultry Farm
BRF is underwriting development of a small poultry farm run by a highly entrepeneurial individual. As the former guard or doorman at Mr. Rahman's mother's apartment, this fellow once set up a micro-level poultry raising operation in a tiny, 3ft. x 10 ft. space. He is now doing the same, albeit on a larger plot of land in Savar, a 'suburb' of Dhaka.
The land is owned and offered rent-free by Mr. Rahman's uncle. At last count, more than a thousand young hens were busily laying eggs for this venture, and the operation was expanding, with the construction of a second poultry shed.
The approximate cost of building this new, 40 ft. x 75 ft. shed is $2,000. BRF opted to underwrite the use bamboo instead of iron wherever possible for the creation of open pens as opposed to individual cages. The bamboo is indigenous and naturally renewable, and thus was preferred to imported iron. And there is something inherently not right about making chickens spend their entire life packed three to a 1 ft. x 3 ft. cage.
The new shed is expected to house 1,100 three-day old chicks, which, at 22 weeks old will begin laying eggs for about 18 months. During their productive period, they will lay an average of 900 or so eggs a day for the flock. The proceeds from about 700 eggs per day will be needed for operating costs (feed and labor), but the rest will be profit and return of invested capital. At 200 eggs per day for 500 days at 4-5 cents per egg, there is an estimated gross return of $4k-$5K on the project on about $3K of invested capital (amortizing the shed over 5 years.) At the end of their laying days, the chickens will be sold for a total of about $1,000, for a grand project profit of $2-3K.
BRF estimates that each poultry shed provides direct employment for 1.5 individuals on a continuing basis. Indirectly, a few individuals are likely to be employed through the process of shed building, feed manufacture and distribution, egg collection, marketing, and veterinary services. Very preliminary numbers for this model suggest that a $2,000 investment in infrastructure plus a $3,000 investment in working capital can generate 3-4 permanent jobs.
The working capital will be returned to the fund after each batch of chickens is sold. In this way, BRF anticipates that the operation will be self-sustaining after three or four batches.
Overall, the goal of the Savar poultry project is to develop prototype operating models for small scale, commercial poultry farms. Savar’s proximity to Dhaka allows for greater oversight and access to resources. The knowledge and operating expertise gained here will be put to use in other locales. If the second poultry shed works out well, BRF may purchase an adjacent plot of land and build an additional shed as well as a training/research center to support development of additional poultry projects.