b'A FEED MILL OPERATORS STORYLEFTLATA MARANDI HAS SEEN FIRSTHANDoperates with one of her sons. She received The sale of highTHE IMPROVEMENTS that a year dedicatedtraining and a small loan from Hatching Hope quality chicken feed is anto learning good chicken rearing practicesIndia, and shes reinvested the profit of herMy income from feed dropped, but additional incomeand entrepreneurship can have on a familyschicken sales (and a significant amount of that supportsincome. Last year, the handful of backyardsweat equity) into buying the raw materials andincome through poultry did not drop.entrepreneurs like Latachickens she kept ate kitchen waste and foodbuilding the room where they prepare the feed Marandi duringscraps scavenged around her house. Theyand package it for sale to their local community.In fact, income through poultry the COVID-19 pandemic.were susceptible to predators, disease andHowever, the pandemic caused a slowdown malnutrition.of chicken feed sales, and initially it affected compensated for losses from feed.RIGHTNow, thanks to Heifer International andher income. Lata Marandi, pictured hereCargills Hatching Hope India, she has aPeople who used to buy 22-pound sacks of LATA MARANDIprocessinghealthy flock of 35 chickens that live in a well- feed earlier are only buying 8-pound bags now, chicken feed, makes a steadyconstructed coop behind her house, and she isshe explained. People do not have money to buy income foreasily able to keep track of their growth, find theirfeed for their birds. They have not been able to her familyeggs and round them up for regular vaccinations. find work. through her feed productionShe is grateful that her family has been sparedHowever, because she has learned how business and herduring the pandemic, but it has not been an to keep detailed records about her business, chicken flock. easy road. Marandi was able to manage her familys income My family members and I are fine, Marandiand expenditure and adjust to a trend that she said. There werent any COVID-19 positive casesnoticed during the crisis. Demand for poultryin my family or my village. However, we faced ahas been on the up and up! lot of losses during the lockdown period. My income from feed dropped, but income Marandi diversified her business, and shesthrough poultry did not drop, she said. In fact, benefitted from two streams of income.income through poultry compensated for losses Shes the owner of a feed mill, which shefrom feed.n8| HOLIDAY 2021'