Takeo, Cambodia – With both hands handicapped, Than Ponlok, a resident of Trapeang Roung Village, Udom Soriya Commune, Tramkak District, Takeo Province, says, “I do farming to the extent possible with my disability, such as raising chickens. I can do everything except building the chicken pen so I hire others to do that.” Than Ponlok gave up his studies in grade 10 and turned to chicken farming to earn a living.

In 2014, he received chicken raising training from the Institute of Agricultural Research and Development of Cambodia and in 2016, he joined the Udom Soriya Agricultural Cooperative and received special agricultural training on chicken raising techniques from the Facilitation Association of Economy for Cooperatives (FAEC), one of the farmers’ organizations under the AFOSP-MTCP2 Programme.

Before joining the cooperative, Ponlok used to raise about 30 chickens and managed to sell very few of them due to his limited skills in raising chickens. He did not know how to tend to his chickens, and as a result, his chickens often contracted diseases of which he had little knowledge of how to treat. Through the support of FAEC, he was given an opportunity to go on a study tour to learn from farmers in other provinces in the country and even overseas (France). Ponlok received training from experts and learned new techniques on chicken raising and immediately put these into practice.

“Every three months, I add 300 chicks to ensure the production chain. I buy them at one week old from the farmers hatching chicks for raising to their prime. They usually reach the wanted weight within three months, and then I sell them. I use modern chick raising and tending techniques which require pens and enclosed net fences. The pens are always maintained and clean,” he explains.

So far, the chick farming of Than Ponlok has been highly successful. Each time, he sells 900 to 1,000 chickens and he can do that eight times a year. From this, he can earn KHR 40 to 50 million (USD 9,674 to 12,092) annually.

However, at times, he also faces challenges including loss of income due to diseases that plague the chicken because of weather changes. When this happens, he tries to find the best options to save them with only minimal amounts of chickens lost to death. The bigger challenge for him is the market. There are times when merchants price down his chickens. Additionally, the cooperative is not strong enough and he cannot find a market within the community.

Nonetheless, Than Ponlok remains committed and does not plan to give up chicken farming even if, at times, the price of chicken drops. He hopes that Udom Soriya Agricultural Cooperative will be able to find a collective market for the chickens in order to help its members by reducing the impact of pricing by the middlemen. #