This article seeks to justify Guinea fowl farming and commercialization as a potential area for economic and social growth in Africa. It identifies challenges in the commercialization of the species in Africa and offers solutions to redress the issues and arrive at better farming sytems in the contient. It is based on academic and field research at the African Centre for Community and Development and other sources. Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo Director at African Centre for Community and Development BP 181, Limbe, Cameroon Date: 12/01/2016 www.africancentreforcommunity.com http://youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom https://www.facebook.com/African-Centre-for-Community-and-Development-103686769685856/

1. How commercialization of guinea fowl on the African continent can be
done
Author: Arrey Mbongaya Ivo
African Centre for Community and Development
BP 181, Limbe, Cameroon
Date: 12/01/2016
www.africancentreforcommunity.com
http://youtube.com/user/AfricanCentreforCom
https://www.facebook.com/African-Centre-for-Community-and-
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2. Summary
This article seeks to justify Guinea fowl farming and commercialization as a potential area for economic and
social growth in Africa. It identifies challenges in the commercialization of the species in Africa and offers
solutions to redress the issues and arrive at better farming systems in the continent. It is based on academic
and field research at the African Centre for Community and Development and other sources.
According to Wikipedia “Guineafowl sometimes called "original fowl" or “guineahen are birds of the
family Numididae in the order Galliformes” The origin of the guinea fowl is Africa and the birds are
generally an insect and grain eating species. Many species are found in East and Southern Africa and
traditional rearing of guinea fowl at susbsistence levels have been recorded in Uganda, Botswana,
South Africa, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and many other countries in West Africa including Cameroon and
Nigeria. Many tribes in Ghana and West Africa including the Dagombas and Gonjas use the bird in
traditional and religious rites and as a gift of importance or to welcome dignitaries like mothers-in-laws
(Teye and Adam, 2000). However commercialization of these species in Africa is marred by several
factors that include the following:
• Communal dependence on traditional and susbsistence methods in rearing birds which
translates into low productivity and incapacity to arrive at communal dependence on the species
as a source of proteins.
• Poor access to compounded feed by guinea fowl farmers has led to birds dependent on
foraging, kitchen wastes and leftover maize or millet in certain communities or left over
portions intended for poultry in systems that both species are reared together but with
prioritization on poultry for economic benefits to the rearing families and farmers. In these
circumstances the birds are undernourished hence are neither egg layers and meat given
varieties as intended by farmers or as inscribed in their reproductive biology.
• Poor housing (Sayilla, 2009) of birds due to marginal investments into guinea fowl farming

3. systems and the practice of free range farming in particular. This is due to lack of training of
farmers, farmer poverty and poor vulgarization of tested practices by public services involved in
general management of livestock systems in the continent.
• High keet mortality also leads to low productivity, low revenues from guinea fowl farming as
well as slow growth levels in stocking populations of guinea fowl in the continent. It is also
considered as having a high risk factor by new entrants in the guinea fowl farming systems
hence pushes prospective farmers into alternatives like poultry, pig farming or even hunting of
wildlife species.
• More so, lack of understanding of the biological cycle of the birds is enhanced by poor
technical support from government extension services (Moreki, 2010). This leads to poor
feeding for eggs and for meat production as well as poor preparation of feed by local suppliers.
It translates into poor housing for birds, high keet mortality and low incones for farmers. Lack
of understanding of the biological cycle of the species is also enhanced by general lack of
knowledge on the species. Even though the crested guinea fowl is found in the North West of
Cameroon or the Black Guinea fowl in the Congo area, most communities are cut off from its
farming especially areas that do not have native species of the birds and that are geographically
away from breeding centres.
• Guinea fowl farming is also affected by high levels of predation from cats and snakes as many
systems allow birds to freely roam and forage in the day (Moreki, 2007). Free range guinea
fowl farming is common in rural Botswana and arguably is common in many parts of rural
Africa as in urban areas land tenure systems conflict with free range farming of guinea fowl,
poultry and even ruminants. High predation of birds is also accompanied by poor handling of
harvested eggs and poor management of layers or incubation levels which all translate into low
productivity, bad breeding methods, poor communal dependence on the species and incapacity

4. to buttress the farming system as a viable livelihoods option or a major protein asset across sub-
populations ironically affected by low access to proteins, malnutrition and hunger.
However guinea fowl farming in Africa can be commercialized. It can be done as a veritable livelihood
tool and not just the work of an idle hour. For this to happen, the following measures must be put in
focus:
• Housing improvement mechanisms must be instituted by local and national governances within
the continent. Government engineered extension programs must be initiated on a regular basis
both to build a skillset necessary in handling the guinea fowl challenges but also to curb
mortality from hygienic and sanitation gaps. Gaps in housing must be mitigated via access to
finance by farmers and this can also be entry points for public private partnerships or impact
investing in the continent.
• More so high keet mortality must be cut via improved feeding, management of hatcheries and
also better incubation processes which must be accompanied by the vulgarization of knowledge
on the reproductive biology of species as well as better veterinary services or availability of
vaccines to fight guinea fowl related diseases. Gono et al, 2013 attributed lack of access to
veterinary services and drugs as a major deterrent to guinea fowl farming in Zimbabwe while
poor rural and urban links or linkages between sectors in Africa have also reportedly
accentuated the gaps in supplies of necessary vital supplements in the sustainable farming of the
birds in the continent.
• Better access to compounded feed (Gono et al, 2013) designed for the dietary preferences of the
guinea fowl not adopted poultry feed or wastes from farmer kitchens or village garbage sites.
Better nutrition will translate into high egg production, better meat producing varieties and
improvements on access to proteins in the region. It will also lead to more incomes for farmers
which incidentally can facilitate education of children especially girls who are often neglected

5. in systems where gender inequalities have been observed. This will also boost start ups in a
region with about a billion people now and with high rates of youth and women unemployment.
• Vocational training centres and farmer field schools must also be supported or launched across
Africa in order to train farmers and the greater public on those vital livelihoods strategies and
audits which have been proven to deliver positive results as well as for the guinea fowl industry.
This will create an enabling environment for development across value chains including start
ups like restaurants and hotels dealing in guinea fowl as well as post harvest management
facilities including coldstores or companies interested in packaging and even exporting
harvested birds. Drying of Guinea fowl can arguably give it a tint of Bush Meat which
incidentally can help reduce dependence on threatened species like elephants noted by research
to be poached mostly for their meat in areas like Central Africa.
It is thus clear that the Guinea fowl is a neglected species with huge commercial possibilities in Africa.
If it is looked beyond a subsistence economic paradigm, it can help create employment, help in the
conservation of threatened wildlife poached for meat, improve access to proteins, wellbeing and even
fight poverty and inequalities in Africa. It must thus be put in focus by both government and private
stakeholders so as to arrive at such measures that lead to better housing for birds, reduction in keet
mortality, better hygenienic and sanitation facilities for birds, farmer education and training as well as
more participatory and holistic instruments internationally and regionally which integrate population
growth, hunger, malnutrition, diseases, unemployment and other factors to Africa's Guinea foul. This
arguably is the reason why the World Bank is supporting Ghana's guinea fowl program (WAAPP).
Under the program farmers are benefitting from incubator-rentals to hatch their eggs and over 50000
people have benefitted from initial investments in 50 guinea fowl farmers. Incubator rentals are
important as most guinea fowl farmers depended on regular poultry or hens to hatch the eggs of their
birds. With the right pillars of support and with the right stakeholders brought on the table, Ghana's
positive story with the guinea fowl can be replicated across Africa as a viable commercial tool for

6. survival.
References and Bibliography
Gono, R.K., Svinurai, W. and Muzvondiwa, J.V.(2013). Constraints and opportunities to Guinea fowl
production in Zimbabwe: A case study of the Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. International Journal of
Science and Research, 2(3):236-239.
Moreki, J.C. (2007). Guinea fowl production. Retrieved 20/11/13 from
http://www.gov.bw/Global/MOA/Guinea%20Fowl%20Production.pdf
Moreki, J.C., Thutwa, M., Ntesang, K., Koloka, O.A. and Ipatleng, T. (2010). Utilization of the guinea
fowl and Tswana chicken packages of the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development
Support Scheme, Botswana. Livestock Research for Rural Development 22(11). Retrieved 12/12/2010
from http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd22/11/more22210.htm
Sayila, A. (2009). Guinea fowl farming becomes popular in Botswana. World Poultry, 25(10): 30-31.
A Taste for Guinea Fowl Could Hatch Thousands of Jobs in Ghana
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/10/12/a-taste-for-guinea-fowl-could-hatch-thousands-
of-jobs-in-ghana
Arrey Mbongaya Ivo on Green Cradle & Environmental Benefits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFnnHCQy6KU
Picture of Guinea fowls.
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