Manor Farm will send nine volunteers to Haiti on September 15 to help build poultry enterprises for families in need in the poverty-stricken Cavaillion region of the country.

Brendan Nolan is the marketing manager for Manor Farm and is one of the project organisers. He explained to AgriLand that the plan is to travel out there for seven days and build a coop for 1,200 chickens.

In 2015 the project, supported by the charity Haven, built five chicken coops capable of holding 200 chickens each, but hurricane Nassau struck Haiti in 2016 and the coops were destroyed.

The coops that were previously constructed could hold about 200 chickens each and were capable of sustaining two families, Nolan outlined.

Manor Farm has been working with the charity Haven since 2015 and, according to Nolan, has been donating between €20,000 and €30,000 per year to build chicken coops.

Haven is a charity that was set up by Leslie Buckley, and his wife Carmel in 2008.

The Manor Farm volunteers’ role will be to set the coops up and show the local people how to rear the chickens.

The company chose Haiti for its charity efforts as “it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere”, according to Nolan.

In the seven-day period, we will turn a greenfield site into a fully-built chicken coop. Before we leave, a Haven / Manor Farm flag will be raised over the site.

Nolan said that the company will donate €30,000 to the project and will also cover the costs of getting the volunteers down there.

“Everyone going on the trip has been asked to raise €500 sponsorship money,” he added.