Karrau’s economic development effort to advance community receives $3M poultry farm

The community of Karrau, Region Seven is beginning its poultry farm. This is as a result of Government’s vision for development of the advancement of Amerindian communities.  It was noted that the economic project is being undertaken by the villagers. As such, $3M of their $7M COVID-19 relief grant will be used to fund the project.

Shane Cornelius, Toshao of Karrau, was quoted in the media as saying that the community is primarily known for its logging and mining activities, therefore the villagers decided to try something different. They expressed belief that the poultry venture will be successful due to its close proximity to Bartica and the influx of persons travelling in and out of the community. “We designed it in such a way that persons within the village would actually benefit directly from the project. So, it is not a traditional village poultry project, but it is intended to operate much like a co-operative society, whereby each resident would be allocated a certain number of chickens,” Cornelius explained.

The Toshao revealed that the village council will oversee the procurement of the feed, medicine, and chicks for the venture. He said that currently, a pen that will accommodate 500 meat birds is under construction, and a similar pen will be built at a later date. Cornelius noted that the decision to construct the pens separately, would allow them to gauge the community’s market response. This, he said is to ensure that there is no lapse in judgement regarding the project’s profit.

The Toshao explained that once the construction process is finished, the village council “would sign contracts with the residents who would have to pay back storage fee and use of the chicken project and so basically, we are targeting two areas -where we would be providing a source of income to residents, and also providing poultry meat to markets close by.” The Karrau village leader explained that the remainder of the community’s COVID fund allowed the council to procure a $2M All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), while $1M was used to improve the ICT hub.

The Toshao revealed that in 2021, government earmarked a one-off $1.73B COVID-19 relief fund aimed at creating opportunities for livelihood, youth development, and the enhancement of village infrastructure. He added that it was one of the many measures implemented by President, Irfaan Ali to bring relief to citizens affected by the pandemic.