When Margret Kabajungu joined the WeWork – green and decent jobs for youth project, she was already rearing poultry with her husband, John Assimwe, at their home in Bunyangabu District in Western Uganda. The couple had started the business two years earlier and had 35 birds when Margaret was recruited.

Margret had almost missed being part of the project. This is because although she had applied during the initial recruitment, she had not been successful. However, after some participants dropped out, she was invited to take their place. Although she missed the five‑day residential bootcamp, RCA field officer Lamark Muhindo ensured she received the training she needed, during the regular field visits to her home.

“When we recruited her, I took her through some of the topics that had been covered during the bootcamp so that she could catch up," says Lamark. "Since then, I have continued visiting them to ensure they stay on track."

Today, the couple keeps 50 dual‑purpose birds. At one point, they had increased their stock to 80 but later sold some after realizing their poultry house had become small. The proceeds enabled them to fence the compound and build a stronger structure for their birds and their cow, making the entire farm safer and better organized.

As part of the project, Margaret received 23 birds and 50 kilogrammes of poultry feeds as a start-up kit. Those birds are still part of the stock today.

Lamark says that the project also introduced the family to improved breeds such as Sasso and Kenbro, which are more productive while retaining the characteristics of local chickens. These breeds are bred to be harder and more disease-resistant than standard commercial broilers, while growing faster and laying more eggs than indigenous chickens.

The couple now buys one-month-old chicks, raises them for another two to three months and sells them for meat at a minimum of UGX 30,000(€7) per bird. Their current stock alone is worth about UGX 1.5 million (€359).

The training also encouraged the family to diversify. Besides poultry, they rear goats and cattle, use manure from the animals to improve their crop gardens and have adopted hydroponic fodder to reduce feeding costs.

"We encourage farmers to have poultry, crops, cows and goats because each activity complements the other," Lamark explains.

Another important lesson was record keeping.

"Before, we kept everything in our minds," says John. "We would sell birds and later fail to remember how many we had sold or how much money we had received. Now we write everything down and it helps us know whether we are making progress."

The couple also joined a Village Savings and Loan Association after being encouraged during their mentorship sessions. Every week, Margret saves about UGX 45,000(€11), and they have already used loans from the group to buy poultry feeds.

Their goal now is to begin brooding 300 day‑old chicks, a move they believe will further increase their profits. Alongside their small grocery shop and other farm enterprises, poultry has become one of the businesses enabling them to provide for their five children with greater stability and confidence.  

They are grateful to the project for how far they have come in their business. The WeWork project is implemented by Enabel in partnership with Ile de Paix and The Association of Rwenzori Community (RCA), with funding from the European Union and the Government of Belgium.