A member of Chimbiya Piggery Cooperative feeding piglets
After ten years members of Chimbiya piggery cooperative are now enjoying a better quality of life. This improvement is attributed to the procurement of pigs and construction of warehouse with assistance from Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) Project.
Chimbiya Piggery cooperative is found in Makagula village, Linthipe E.P.A in Dedza district. It has 40 members of which 34 are female and 6 males.
Jean Madanda Chapotera is the chairlady of Chimbiya Piggery Cooperative; she started by explaining the problems they were facing before receiving support from the program of AGCOM. “At first we were having problems of storing feed for pigs as well as lacking knowledge on what type of pigs that should be raised to have good quality meat and bacon. This caused the cooperative to have less produce and as a result, members were earning less that was not even enough to sustain their families”. She said.
“Upon receiving the matching grant from AGCOM, we took MK 7,700,000 which was used to buy 220 pigs of an improved breed and MK 32,800,000 was used to construct a warehouse. The project also helped us to find off-takers that buy produce in large quantity and at good price. We are making more profits when we sell our pigs as a group and to more profiting buyers since at first we were selling as individuals, mostly vendors”, she explained.
Commenting on the development, Rhoda Mang’anya who is the cooperative’s production committee chairperson, expressed satisfaction with the support they have received from AGCOM project.
“At first there was no progress in terms of production, but upon receiving the funds, the 220 pigs we bought have now increased to 560 and members are now enjoying the benefits”, she said. . Lacking feeds for their pigs is not a story for members of Chimbiya cooperative because they can store as well as sell to other cooperatives if they need it”. She narrated.
Chapotera concluded by discussing the vision of opening a butchery for the cooperative that can be able to process the poke, selling it well branded parks and supplying to various supermarkets.
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