An Egg Seller Turned Entrepreneur

"In March 2001, representatives from Mercy Corps, a partner of The Hunger Site, arrived in Ganja and offered Zohrab an opportunity to participate in a community economic development program." Photo: Ramil Maharramov/Mercy Corps.

Zohrab Suleymanov began working at the state poultry factory in Ganja, Azerbaijan in 1988. Zohrab was in a top management position when the Soviet Union collapsed and many state industries, including the state poultry factory, folded. Zohrab soon found himself jobless and facing the challenge of living in a new, uncertain environment where food shortages were common.

To earn enough money to feed his wife and two small children, Zohrab began his own small poultry business in the courtyard of his house and made a living selling eggs in the local bazaar. For years, Zohrab earned enough for his family’s survival, but never enough to get ahead.

In March 2001, representatives from Mercy Corps, a partner of The Hunger Site, arrived in Ganja and offered Zohrab an opportunity to participate in a community economic development program which included a group comprised of entrepreneurs involved in poultry incubation, chick food production, chicken raising and reselling.

“At the beginning,” Zohrab says, “membership in the group helped me to develop relations with several chicken and eggs sellers. This, in turn, enabled me to increase my sales and double the number of chickens I owned. I later linked sellers with other farmers and the sales of these farmers increased and they wanted to increase production. But many of them lacked the necessary skills and knowledge to keep a big flock of hens. Then I had the idea to provide my advice to these people on how to do it.”

Now Zohrab serves more than 360 families, by supplying them with high protein food and instructions on how to properly look after their chickens. According to community members, nearly every family has increased its monthly household income by $70 as a result of Zohrab’s services.

To make his services more effective, he has also developed a two-page manual on poultry production, which he distributes to local farmers. With Zohrab as the leader, a group of farmers also recently pooled $10 each and created their own savings fund that will enable them access to financial resources.

“People appreciate my services,” says Zohrab. “For me, this became a new business. I resell the chicken food and add a substantial value to this product and to my community.”