Chicken Economics

It was all a dream, that started while I put another handful of nshima (corn flour dough) with cabbage into my mouth.  After dinner when I was forced to tighten my belt by one more notch I came to the realization that I needed more protein. Then I thought, "Why don't I raise female flightless birds and eat their unfertilized offspring (also known as chicken eggs)".  After performing a market analysis I realized that I could sell as many as 30 eggs a day just to the surrounding community and make a little profit and protein at the same time.  This would require about 40 chickens (to sell to the community and for personal consumption) .  Through dlilagent frugal living I was able to save 1,000,000 Zambian kwacha ($200.00).  I spent 400,000kw on infrastructure development, 100,000kw on initial food supplies for employees (chicken feed) then 500,000kw on 10 employees (chickens).  The chickens are received at 17 weeks of age and must be feed 5 weeks before they start producing eggs.

To keep operating costs at a minimum I produce my own chicken feed. Chicken feed is about 60% corn which I am able to buy from local farmers at 15,000kw ($3.00) for 25kg. The rest of the components can be bought from town. Producing my own feed saves me about 25,000kw ($5.00) per month.  My savings would be even greater except as a small producer I don't have the economies of scale on my side, meaning long term storage of feed ingredients purchased in bulk can be a problem.

Once egg production has started for every 10 chickens there should be on average about 9 eggs every day.  Each egg I sell for 800kw (15 cents) meaning that if I don't eat or give away any of my eggs I can make an income of about 7200kw ($1.50) every day.  However I spend about 2500kw every day on feed and other operating costs. So I can make a daily profit of 3700 kw (80 cents). Once egg production starts it will continue for at least 1 year, maybe a little more depending on the chicken. After which each chicken can be sold or consumed as meat.  So after 365 days of egg production the total profit would be 1,350,500kw, which is just enough to remake the initial capital investment of 1,000,000kw.  It must be noted that the 400,000kw of infrastructure spending at the begining is a onetime investment. If the buisness is continued the following year then this investment will not be needed again.  Also the economics of scale would greatly increase the profit margin due to savings in feed production and in infrastructure.

The question must now be put to myself, why didn't I purchase 40 chickens to fulfil my initial market analysis (which I have recently confirmed to be an underestimate, infact I think there is a market for even 80 to 90 eggs per day).  The answer to this question is 2 fold. First the answer is that I wasn't frugal enough, I took a trip to South Africa in December. However I stand by this frivolous travel expenditure and say that it was worth every kwacha.  The second is answer is that risk and uncertainty generated fear in myself and my potential investors.  Will the chickens die or get stolen? Do I have what it takes to be a farmer? If I had another year in Zambia I would reinvest every penny and some more to fulfil my estimates as to the demands of the market.  But that's the slow progression of buisness.  Maybe someday I will make millions...of Zambian kwacha.

At Manda Hill

At Manda Hill,
One can ride the only escalator in Zambia,
From the bottom to the top.
Or one can watch the rural Zambians stumble and laugh,
As they ride on up.

In Manda Hill,
Each and every tribe and race in Zambia
Can easily be found.
Many come to see and many come to be seen
And some come to shop.

For Manda Hill,
Or half London as they say, is an image,
Of the western world.
The African mamas see the miniskirts and bikinis,
And shake their heads

But Manda Hill,
Was built by Zambia and the Zambians with money,
spend it there.
Those without money continue to dream,
And try their best.

By Manda Hill
One kilometre away is the only other mall in Zambia
Arcaides.
At both, modern meets postmodern, old meets new,
And Africa meets west

To Manda Hill they go,
At Manda Hill they laugh,
In Manda Hill they see,
For Manda Hill they wonder,
By Manda Hill they confront,

But will they ever climb to the top of Manda Hill?
Is there room at the top for the whole world?
If not, then the hill will be too steep.
And they will just occasionally ride the escalator up then down.
Laughing and dreaming as they look up,
At Manda Hill.

A Typical Day

The January school term has started and it means that I plunge into the daily routine of teaching. I teach three classes, grade 8 math, grade 8 science and grade 9 math. I also collect school fees from the grade 8 and 9 students and I manage the schools science equipment.  I must say that I am very grateful to finally have a fairly defined routine and I assure you that developing this routine was at times an exhausting effort.  Routine is the foundation on which we judge any abnormal situation that confront us and so in my first few months in Zambia not having a routine often left me confused during situations that would be totally out of the ordinary in Canada.  But time slowly brings about knowledge and understanding and from that I present to you now my typical day with all its strange quirks.

The sun rises at 05:30 so I get up at 05:30.  School starts at 07:00 this leaves me enough time to eat a mango/banana/apple as I go to fetch some water from the well then bath and then dress.  As I walk the 200m to the well I make sure that I greet everyone that I see.  I fill my bucket at the well or if there is a little kid there then they insist on filling my bucket for me.  When I get back I pour some water into a bath bucket and carry it over to the bath house for my cold bucket bath.  After I dress and shine my shoes I walk to school making sure to greet everyone I see.  Two minutes after leaving home I arrive at school.  On Mondays we have a staff meeting that starts at 06:30 so I have to get up a little earlier.  But if there is no staff meeting I grab my chalk and brush from my office and proceed to teach my classes.  Upon entering my class in the morning I am greeted as follows by the students.

I am in the class or in my office until 09:40 when there is a 20 minute break that allows me to go home and eat breakfast.  My breakfast consists of porridge made from corn meal and tea.  At 10:00 its back to school until 12:40 when classes end and i go home for lunch.  Lunch is nshima (dough made from corn meal) with some side dish, either beans or chicken or some leafy vegetable.  After lunch most people nap but I have never been a very skillful napper so I usually read.  At 14:00 after school study sessions begin for the students so sometimes i will go tutor or I will take some books along for them to practice reading.  If I am not in the classroom i am usually either planning lessons, reading, organizing or fixing the science equipment, helping with some building project or weeding the garden.  During these hours I usually find sometime to slack off and read or eat a few mangoes.  The sun goes down at 19:00 and the candles come out.  Shortly there after we eat supper consisting of nshima with some side dish.  After supper with drink tea talk for a bit then go to bed.

There is a 7 hour time difference between Zambia and Ontario.  So when school ends around 13:00 in Zambia the early risers in Ontario are just starting to roll out of bed at 6am.

This term of school continues until the start of April when we get a few weeks off before term 2 starts.  The third and final term of the school year starts in September and ends in November with national exams for grade 7, 9 and 12.  When I leave in July I hope that after all the day spent together the grade 9 will be able to pass their national exam and make it to grade 10 and if not I hope that at least they will be prepared for life in Zambia.

Countries by the Numbers

Currently I am vacationing in South Africa for Christmas and am having a fantastic time exploring Cape Town with many other MCC workers.  During my journey to South Africa I passed through the very interesting country of Botswana.  I found that very interesting comparisons exist between the three countries of Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.  So I will share these comparisons.

Zambia:

Population = 13.5 million
Land Area = 750 000 sq km
GDP per capita = $1 400 (US)
Major Products = Copper, Corn, Livestock
Major Ethnic Groups =  Bemba, Tonga, Chewa, Lozi

Comments = A country blessed with good land and lots of rain to support the population, the majority of which are subsistence farmers.  Canadian mining companies have dominate the Copperbelt province for many years although their reputation has not always been in high standards.  For better or for worse, foreign NGOs continue to prop up the country financially.

Botswana:

Population = 2.0 million
Land Area = 580 000 sq km
GDP per capita = $12 700 (US)
Major Products = Cattle, Diamonds, Sorghum
Major Ethnic Groups =  Setswana, Kalanga, Indigenous Groups (Bushmen)

Comments = A country dominated by the Kalahari desert means that water is always in short supply so lush green lawns are nonexistent.  However the country has prospered under previous responsible governments that tightly managed the diamond industry in the country.  Elephants are quite frequently seen grazing next to the road when driving through the country.

South Africa:

Population = 49.1 million
Land Area = 1 220 000 sq km
GDP per capita = $10 300 (US)
Major Products = Mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), Corn, Wine
Major Ethnic Groups = black African 79%, white 9.6%, coloured 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%
(These are politically correct terms in South Africa)

Comments = A country that looks very similar to North America immediately upon entry.  However the country is still very divided along racial lines 16 years after the end of apartheid.  However it is one of the only African countries where the colonizers and African tribes made an effort to peacefully live together after the end of colonial rule.  The country is covered with green mountains making for many spectacular natural sights.

*All of the numbers are from CIA World Factbook
*The comments are from my observations and from conversations I have had with different people.

Victoria Falls at the End of the Dry Season Pt. 2

The classic view of Africa is the safari adventure so when not swimming next to the falls we took a day trip to Botswana to take in the classic Africa.   I have heard stories that the leader of Botswana is extremely passionate about animals and apparently he uses his army to protect them.  Poachers can be shot on site and even just hitting a wild animal with your car on the road can get you jail time.  So the wildlife parks there are flooded with animals and at the end of the dry season the only place where the animals can get water is at the river.  We took a boat trip along the river and saw cape buffalo and elephants by the hundreds.  Hippos, crocs and antelope were also very abundant.  And there were too many species of bird too count.

Here are some pictures.

Cape Buffalo

Saddlebilled Stork

Hippo with a Croc

Elephants Cross the River

Kudus

Elephants with 500 Pound Baby

Swimming Next to Victoria Falls

There was a ledge about 5cm under water and 1 meter from the edge of the falls that kept us from going over.

First Rains

After 7 months of pure uninhibited sunshine all of that heat accumulated into the biggest thunderstorm in my memory.  We were cooking lunch that afternoon when the clouds rolled into the village.  They made a flashy show of it too with their lightning and they boastfully howled out with thunder and and wind.  When the rains came pounding down the tin roof of our house made muted every other sound in the air.  The show was spectacular but it was the wind that did us in.  The strongest wind in 6 years was around us and after ten minutes it stole the tin roof off of our kitchen.   The rain came pouring in and the house was soaked.  After the storm passed the house was a mess, almost everything was soaked.  It was a very humbling experience.

The next day the builders came to fix the roof,  we washed and dried everything in the house and threw out everything we couldn't salvage or we didn't need.  That night we were tired but slept well under our fixed roof. Three days after the storm the house was even cleaner than before the storm because the storm forced us to throw out all of the junk that accumulates in any home over the years. Five days later we finally, after two months, got our battery to hold charge from the solar panel on the roof so we could charge our cell phones and have light at night.  Seven days later I moved into my brand new office at school.  So in Eight months time I may look back on the time when the rains came in as the time when I started living life in style in Zambia.

It has rained five times since the first rains each time more gentle then the last.  But the rains are still very heavy, with more than an inch falling in 20 minutes.  Everything has turned from brown to green and everyone is busy in the fields planting the food they will eat all of next year.  They let me plow with a team of two cows for 4 minutes but it requires some practice.  Otherwise the next few week for me will be occupied with multicrop seeding of maize(corn) with sugar cane, maize with potatoes, peanuts and a whole assortment of vegetables.  There's plenty of land to go around here so there should be enough land to feed the extra North American at the table. 

Independence Day

On October 24 Zambia celebrates its freedom from the white people who controlled the former Northern Rodesia which happened in 1964.  For the people of Mboole they were very happy to include me, the only white person in the village, in their celebrations.  The celebration for me took on two parts, the soccer games and the school’s Independence Day celebration.

The soccer games are a day long event where everyone goes and watches soccer games all day long.  I practice with one soccer team but they weren’t able to register me in time so I can only play friendly games.  So I just tagged along to watch.  Because it was day long event our team made some gela for lunch which is just ground corn meal cooked and mixed with milk.  Four guys just squat around a dish and eat away, it was interesting taste experience.  Because I had been in town the day before I told my team I would buy them a treat for after the game.  So I got them some bread and peanut butter.  Now please allow me to defend this choice of mine.  The people who live out in the villages maybe have bread once a year, for Christmas or Easter maybe and bread is without a doubt a real luxury item here.  So they all eagerly downed their one slice of bread.  After all was said and done I packed up the little bit of remaining peanut butter and went home.  At home my host mother said that a few of the other guys on our team had walked by earlier. They were talking excitedly about how the white guy had got them some bread.  The one said “Yeah and there was this brown stuff to put on top”.  Which I found strange because everyone in the village grows their own peanuts and they eat peanuts all the time but peanut butter is only found (but found abundantly) in the towns and the cities.

The school’s Independence Day celebration was very interesting but very stressful.  In the days before Independence Day the school collects about 50 cents from as many students as can afford it (this was my job to collect money and write down the crazy Tonga names like Chilileko Chuulabantu).  Then on the Independence Day there is traditional singing and dancing then for those that paid the school cooks a full course meal (consisting of Nshima, cooked cabbage and goat or chicken meat).  My grade 8 class insisted tat I join in the traditional dance, so they dragged me out there and the whole school roared with laughter from the from the moment I busted my first dance move.  Also may I say that cooking for 300 people on wooden fires is very stressful but very satisfying when finished.

Grade 8 Girls Preform on Independence Day

a more melo preformace 

May I just put in one request to all the physicists.  If they find the Higgs Boson this year someone let me know please.