Turkey Farming. A Beginner’s Guide

Turkey is the third most important fowl next to chicken and duck. They form almost 2% of the total poultry population. Turkeys are reared for meat only. Turkey meat is considered the leanest among other domestic bird species. Turkey farming is common in most western African Countries including Nigeria. Knowledge in how to raise turkeys begins in learning a few terminologies such as the following: a. Tom - adult male turkey b. Hen - adult female turkey c. Poult - baby turkey d. Snood or dew bill - it is the fleshy lump near the base of the beck e. Caruncles - this the fleshy bump on the head and neck that is usually colored pink or red, appearing about the 5th week of age f. Bread - is a bunch of hair that is attached to the skin on the chest g. Strut - the mating behavior of a tom There are a few safety measures to do to avoid some problems when you are starting to raise turkeys. 1. To prevent feather picking and cannibalism, about half from the tip of the beak is removed from the poults, usually during the 3rd or 5th week of age. 2. Removing the snood or dew bill usually prevents head injuries as a result of picking and fighting. The snood can be removed by finger pressure at one day old. When the poults reach 3 weeks of age, the snood can be cut off with a sharp pair of scissors. 3. Clipping is done for a one old turkey by removing the tip of the toe. A turkey farming topic will not be complete without discussing the eggs. Turkeys start laying eggs on the 30th week of age. The production period is about 24 weeks from the point of lay. If turkey hens are fed properly and are provided with good artificial lighting, they can lay as much as 60-100 eggs yearly. Most often than not, about 70% of the eggs will be laid in the afternoon. Turkey eggs tinted, weighing about 85gms, and they are pointed at one end and with a noticeably strong shell. As mentioned earlier, turkey meat is the leanest. It is also rich in essential amino acids and vitamins like niacin and vitamin B6. It is also low in cholesterol. A good housing for turkeys is one important aspect of turkey farming. Turkeys need to be protected from sun, rain and wind, as well as predators. They also need to be provided with comfort. You also can find a lot more information about turkey farming in the internet. There are detailed discussions on proper housing, feeding and rearing turkeys, among others. If you think you still need guidance on turkey farming, consulting existing turkey owners and farmers will certainly be a big help. If you would like to learn more about how to raise turkeys correctly, please contact us on 0703 243 5555, 0803 351 4300

How To Package And Export Dried Ginger.

Your Made Easy Export Seminar On Export Dried Ginger To EU, USA and ASIA.

Date: Every Tuesday of the Week
Time: 9am-1pm
Fee; N20, 000


Organizers
Greater Works Concepts
Export Consultants and Experts.

Address: Embassy Block
National Population Commission Compound
12/14 Babs Animashaun Road, Off Bodethomas Street, Surulere, Lagos.

Tel: 0703 243 5555, 0803 351 4300, 0802 328 5547
Email; cbgexports@yahoo.Com



Benefits to Participants
1. Detailed Manual On Exporting Ginger
2. Guide Lines For Non-Oil Export In Nigeria
3. Documents And Tools Requited For Ginger Export Business
4. How To Source Ginger Locally
5. How To Package Ginger For Export
6. Meeting International Standard In Ginger Exporting
7. Price Of Ginger In International Market
8. Specific Countries You Can Export Ginger
9. Cost and Profit Analysis for Ginger Export.
10. Access To Foreign Buyers Of Ginger




Ginger Is A Highly Sought After Commodity In The Export Market. Every Year Millions Of Tones Are Exported From Africa 9especially Nigeria) To Europe, Usa, And Most Asian Countries.

This Seminar Will Put In Your Hands The Key You Need To Succeed In Ginger Export Business.


Can’t attend/ you an order our detailed manual of Ginger export today. Cost N10, 000 (with addresses of buyers)

Call 0703 243 5555, 0802 328 5547 to place your order today.

Starting Small, Going Far: an Ambitious Agenda for The Gambia Cashew Industry

Organized by the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) and the West Africa Trade Hub, the first “Gambia Cashew Week” was held in Banjul, the Gambia, from 2 to 5 November. Eighty stakeholders from the cashew sector participated in the event.

The cashew industry was hailed for its potential to create new jobs and generate additional income through the production and processing of raw cashew nuts (RCN) thus highlighting the numerous opportunities that the cashew industry would offer in the Gambia.

The high yield per tree of the cashew crop as well as its high quality kernels is judged to be among the best in West Africa. This constitutes an excellent base for cashew production and processing in the Gambia.

Located in a strategic area that boasts of efficient transport infrastructure, the Gambia port is becoming a natural trade hub in the West Africa region. While the total production of RCN in the Gambia was estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 metric tons in 2010, the volume of RCN that was shipped from Banjul during the 2010 harvesting season was 67,000 metric tons.

“Starting small, going far” is the motto of the cashew stakeholders in The Gambia. “We want to exploit what we have and avoid repeating the errors that have been made by others in the past”, said Ram Mohan, a Gambian cashew trader and an ACA Executive Committee Member. He added that the cashew week was an excellent opportunity to sensitize policy makers and work with them to create a better environment for the cashew industry to grow.

In the course of the meeting, the stakeholders agreed on the Constitution of The Cashew Alliance for the Gambia (CAG), which would be launched officially by the end of this year. The CAG would be the platform for information exchange and advocacy for the cashew sector. Farmers associations that took part in the event expressed their willingness to unite under a single umbrella.

In the closing session, the delegates outlined the priorities for the development of the Gambia cashew industry based on the recommendations of the Maputo Declaration. This roadmap includes the preparation of the next ACA annual conference which will be hosted in Banjul. Download presentations below.

USAID, ECOWAS and ACA team up to improve access to finance across cashew industry

USAID, ECOWAS and ACA team up to improve access to finance across cashew industry Print E-mail

ImageUSAID/West Africa, the ECOWAS Bank of Investment and Development (EBID) and the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday, December 20, 2010 to address one of the most critical obstacles to development in the cashew industry: Access to finance.

“This agreement will open up access to medium- to long-term finance to cashew processors who need it,” said Roger Brou, director of business and finance at the USAID West Africa Trade Hub. “With access to finance, they can expand their operations, which will create badly needed jobs and bring more income into the regional economy.”

“This is a tremendous step forward for the cashew industry,” said Cherif Hibrahima, president of the African Cashew Alliance. “Access to finance is a critical need for any company. The ACA, ECOWAS and USAID have worked closely together to find solutions to this critical challenge.”

The memorandum formalizes the signatories’ mutual interest in facilitating financing to promote the development of the cashew sector, which will aid the socio-economic development of stakeholders, and support the fight against poverty in the ECOWAS region.

A Brief History of Fresh Pineapple Exports in Ghana by Josh

Yesterday I met with the founder of a pineapple exporting company in Ghana. He is one of the first pineapple exporters in the country, opening his operation in 1985. He is one of the founding members of Seafreight Pineapple Exporters Group (SPEG), and is the organization’s first chairman. He was trained as a pharmacist and originally went into pineapple export because he needed to acquire foreign exchange in order to purchase pharmaceuticals from abroad for his pharmacy business, and realized he was in the wrong business. Ghana was sitting on a gold mine with pineapples, yet no one had noticed it. He recognized that the proximity of West Africa to Europe – specifically, the UK and Germany – and the climate of Ghana made for a strong value proposition for growing pineapple. This man, along with a small group of primarily businessmen with no prior farming experience, established the export market for pineapples in Ghana.

Back in the ’80′s, there were only five flights per week into Europe from Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Because of the limited space available, the quality of the fruit sent to Europe was high and Ghana established a strong reputation for producing good pineapples. Only 10% of production, however, could be exported due to the constraints. As more airlines began flying to Accra, production was able to ramp up, but still was unable to meet the huge demand in the European market. So in the 90’s TIPCEE (Trade and Investment Program for a Competitive Export Economy) helped establish SPEG to promote higher export volumes. They were able to get transport time down from 21 days to 13 days, which reduced spoilage rates on arrival in Europe and increased Ghana’s share in the market.

As part of the agreement, the ships, en route for Cote D’Ivoire, would stop in Tema (Ghana’s deep water port) and pick up an agreed-upon amount of pineapples. The exporters would pay a set rate of $110 per pallet for space on the freighter (in comparison, the Ivoirians only paid $85, since they had high volumes). If unable to fill the container, the exporters still pay for “dead freight.” To guarantee that all of the space was maximized, a cold chain from the farm gate to the port was required, as well as a cold storage facility to ensure that an adequate supply of fruits could be loaded onto the ship. Some of the exporters made these investments, including this man, who installed a facility in Nsawam, a town in the Eastern Region that is ground zero for pineapple production in the country.

The export of pineapples remained strong until 2003 when the European importers began asking if their Ghanaian counterparts could supply the MD2 variety. There are three main types of pineapple grown in Ghana. Sugarloaf is conical and very sweet, and is only sold in the local market. Smooth cayenne is a sweet, juicy variety that lacks the bright yellow color that most people associate with good pineapples. MD2 is a variety that was introduced by Del Monte in Costa Rica, and, though not great for making juice, it is aesthetically-pleasing (more yellow than smooth cayenne), which the housewives in the UK associate with a good pineapple. Also, it is a little more square-shaped than smooth cayenne, so it sits on the supermarket shelf better. The market for fruits in Europe is defined by the supermarkets and retailers, which have huge leverage and influence over what is produced. When Tesco and Marks and Spencer and the other chains in Europe began demanding MD2, which is grown primarily in Costa Rica, instead of smooth cayenne, which is grown in Ghana and elsewhere, the Ghanaian exporters, and the industry as a whole, had a choice to make.

In 2004, Pineapples in Costa Rica took off.

Among the SPEG members, most felt they should switch from smooth cayenne to MD2. There was a small minority, including the man I was speaking with, who felt they should stick with the variety they were good at planting and could achieve high quality fruits, which was smooth cayenne. MD2 is more costly to grow in Ghana due to the climate conditions and soil. For smallholders and commercial farmers alike, it is more expensive to grow an acre of MD2 than it is of smooth cayenne. In Costa Rica, on the other hand, which has ideal growing conditions for MD2 and massive economies of scale, the cost of production is much lower. So, by reducing the cost of production, the Costa Ricans were able to neutralize the Ghana’s cost advantage from lower freight costs as a result of its proximity to Europe. And in the European market for fruits, unless you can come up with a value-addition (fair trade, organic, fresh cut, etc.), everything comes down to price. So, when the switch to MD2 occurred, it was an uphill battle and the Ghanaian exporters were never able to catch up to the Costa Ricans. In 2004, the industry began to decline and has never quite been able to recover.

When I asked him what the future of the pineapple industry in Ghana looks like, and what the industry needs to do to become competitive again, he told me that it is all about quality. If there is a way for Ghana to compete, it is going to be all about producing top quality smooth cayenne pineapples. We will never be competitive on a serious level with Costa Rica for MD2, which is what the European market demands. But by focusing on smooth cayenne, which has better juice than MD2, and by leveraging big companies like Coca-Cola, pineapples in Ghana might make a comeback. It remains to be seen how that will take place, but with a buyer like Coca-Cola demanding high volumes on a weekly basis, the industry could adapt and change quickly, which would be nice.

Cashew Industry Agrees on Guidelines for Growing Business in Africa

ImageMore than 200 cashew industry stakeholders from 24 countries attended the African Cashew Alliance's 5th annual conference in Maputo, Mozambique, from September 14th - 16th. (photo galery)

The event saw the participation of Joaquim Chissano, Mozambique's former President and ACA's Ambassador,Honorables Aires Bonifacio Aly, prime minister of Mozambique, Soares Nhaca, Minister of Agriculture of Mozambique, and Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Agriculture of Ghana, showing the interest of policy makers for the cashew industry and its possible developments.Image

The industry stakeholders developed and agreed on a declaration that advocates business environment changes to promote the industry's growth. Maputo Declaration will be disseminated to government policy makers who will be urged to adopt its recommendations in order to facilitate the industry's development.

They also established a Business Code of Conduct that sets basic standards on food safety, quality, social environment, corporate governance and respect of the environment. This code promotes the ACA's vision of a professional and responsible industry and will be a base to develop a brand for the industry.
Specialists from all over the world shared their experience and vision on how to improve and empower the cashew idustry during the plenary and working group sessions. More than 180 meetings were held during the B2B meetings to establish new business relationships, make contacts and strike deals.



ImageDuring the conference, the ACA members elected a new Executive committee. Mr. Cherif Hibrahima, a cashew processor and managing director of Agribusiness Company in Cote d'Ivoire was elected the new President of ACA. The other members of the Executive Committee are as follows : Mr. idrissa kilangi (vice president, cashew processor from Tanzania), Mr. Luis Soeiro (vice president, cashew processor from Mozambique), Mr. Abou-Bakr Adjibade (cashew processor from Benin), Mr. Ram Mohan (cashew trader from The Gambia), Partheeban Theodore (Olam), Kees Blokland (Global Trading).Download presentations below.

Livestock Exports from the Horn of Africa: An Analysis of Benefits by Pastoralist Wealth Group and Policy Implications Report

Support to the export of pastoralist livestock from the Horn of Africa is often viewed by aid organizations as a key poverty reduction strategy. Drawing on existing literature and field research in Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan, this report examines if and how different wealth groups benefit from the export trade. It looks in detail at the household-level economic strategies of different pastoralist wealth groups and their marketing behaviors, and concludes that in terms of poverty reduction, poorer herders benefit least from livestock exports.

The report also explores the apparent contradiction between increasing levels of pastoralist destitution in the Horn, and increasing exports of livestock and livestock products. The reports suggest that this trend is due to a long-term process of commercialization in 'high export' pastoralist areas. The trend is associated with a gradual redistribution of livestock from poorer to richer households. As richer households sell more animals, they supply the export markets while poorer households fall out the pastoralist system. If correct, these findings have major implications for poverty reduction strategies in pastoralist areas.
Tufts University:

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