Kersor Jones: From a private security guard to a poultry farmer

The turnaround moment in Kersor Jones’ life came after he visited a friend’s poultry site. “A Ghanaian friend called me over to see how he was doing with his poultry work,” Jones said. “I saw his workers sorting eggs for the market and right away, I developed an interest in the business.”

Jones was not in a haste to set up his business. He decided to learn more about layers farming and he convinced his friend to teach him the basics.
“I learned a lot of things,” said Jones. “He taught me the importance of feed and its categories. Poultry housing, breed selection, disease management, and prevention measures, are knowledge I gained.”

After his training, Jones started his business in Mount Barclay, lower Margibi County with 500 chickens. He has since increased his chickens to 2000.

However, local egg producers like Jones’ are at the mercy of importers of eggs. This is because local egg producers tend to have an increased sale when imported eggs become scarce.
But the high cost of feeds and medicines, limited extension services, and lack of political-will are problems that local producers have attributed to the low competition between them and importers.

Despite these challenges, Jones is defying the odds to keep his business afloat. He improvises feed and capitalizes on his relationship with his community to keep his business going. He supplies eggs to retail shops and residents in the Peter Town Community in the Mount Barclay area.