Kumba: SOWEDA drills SW farmers on poultry farming.

It was organised by the South West Development Authority, SOWEDA. Participants were drawn from Mundemba, Ekondo Titi, Tombel, Bangem, Mamfe, Eyoumojock and Kumba. 

The workshop targeted poultry farmers from the Region to better understand the mission of Inter-professional Avicole du Cameroun, IPAVIC, and how to better manage their farms, sales and even booking of table birds.

Speaking during the workshop, Dr Ebot Gregory Tambi, Sub-director of Livestock and Fishes Production at the SOWEDA, said the aim of the workshop was to bring all the actors involved in the poultry sub-sector, especially those producing feed, day-old chicks and those selling in the market; because all of them are grouped under the canopy of IPAVIC.

The main focus of the workshop was to brief members of the Region that IPAVIC exists and how they can benefit from being members...and if there is the presence of information about chicks, feed and broilers amongst other things.

Dr Ebot furthered that farmers are called upon to come together as one man under the umbrella of IPAVIC, in order to better benefit from the advantages of the association like booking for chicks, marketing, technical visit and putting the farmers into contact of the dealers such that their business will be smoother and a lot easier amongst other things.

On his part, the Vice President of IPAVIC, Dr Georges Teneng Ngu, said the association is a collection of poultry farmers in Cameroon. He said the workshop was organised by SOWEDA because IPAVIC is undergoing restructuring and so it was necessary for SOWEDA to come down to the field to sensitise poultry farmers on the numerous benefits they have to benefit from being members.

Most of the farmers who took part in the workshop left the hall visibly satisfied, while thanking SOWEDA for the timely workshop at a time poultry farmers in the Region have been hit by the sociopolitical crisis in the Region.

The Meme Divisional Delegate of Livestock Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Solomon Ebane Manunongo, promised to take the sensitisation to poultry farmers in Meme Division. He added that they will also see how to constitute a better force in the association to continue benefiting from the largesse of the state.

According to the organisers, the purpose of IPAVIC is to develop the poultry sector, ensure food security in Cameroon and fight against unemployment and poverty. The main mission remains to represent, defend and promote the collective interest of the members of the sector with the public authorities, courts, regional and international organisations. 

The workshop, it was also disclosed, was aimed at developing inter-professional partnerships, negotiate a strategy shared by the different professions, ensure compliance with the ethics and deontology of the profession, promote the marketing of its members’ products through exhibition fairs, announcement and publication or by any other means, control the quality of inputs and outputs, check compliance with the general conditions of practice of the profession and collect statistical information on the sector.

Another mission is to carry out studies relating to the economic or social problems of interest to the sector.