A group of 10 Manor Farm staff went on their annual trip to Haiti this year to help build chicken coops for Haitian families looking for a sustainable means of providing a better life for themselves. Manor Farm will have built up to 40 coops since 2015 by the end of this year, each one holding 250 broiler chickens as well as the large egg-laying coop they built in 2018 which houses 1000 birds.
The project is in partnership with Irish charity Haven which runs the “Christine Farm” in Haiti to provide families in poverty with a sustainable form of income.
“In 2018, we landed on a wet day in Haiti, and the following day we began by building the foundations of the large egg-laying coops and the walls which would have been about a metre tall, and then poured the floors,” said Brendan Nolan, marketing manager of Manor Farm.
Manor Farm staff from all areas of the company are invited to volunteer.
“At the end of the five working days, we had a fully functioning chicken house capable of laying much needed eggs for protein for the people of Les Cayes in the south of Haiti. This part of the country has a shortage of 200,000 eggs per week so the work we were doing was vital. We had a lot of help from the locals who were fantastic. They are all now friends for life. We generally started at 7.30am and worked through to 5pm, despite the temperature ranging from 32-40°C.”
Brendan organises the groups from Manor Farm that go out to Haiti. He said that Manor Farm donated some €50,000 in 2018 and that each volunteer was asked to raise a minimum of €500 themselves, but they managed so much more and actually raised a further €20,000.
Manor Farm, through Haven, provides the families with day-old chicks along with the chicken coop, as well as training on how to run the farm
This year, Manor Farm built three coops for broiler chickens during their week-long stay. Each of the coops can provide an income for up to two families which makes a huge impact on their quality of life. They have a good source of income to feed their families but also importantly have the means to send their kids to school.
“Manor Farm, through Haven, provides the families with day-old chicks along with the chicken coop, as well as training on how to run the farm. They also receive feed for the first six weeks of growth,” said Brendan. “At the end of the six weeks, they sell their chickens at the local market for money to grow their farm into the next cycle and to also allow their children to attend school.”
The families who run the farms are carefully selected by Haven personnel on the ground. The Haven personnel know the local people well and choose those families who have expressed the most determination to look after the farms. Haven provide constant support all the time and Manor Farm have visited a number of these farms in 2018 and 2019.
Standing with two Scandinavian volunteers are Colm Breen (middle-left) and Brendan Nolan (far right), marketing manager of Manor Farm.
Brendan describes the experience in Haiti as “mind-blowing”, he says the company make the trip an option for every one of Manor Farm’s 900-plus employees once they have worked in Manor Farm for at least a year.
“We try to make volunteers a mix from the factory floor, administration, middle management and top management. When we go out then there is no “boss” as such. I organise our team and the Haven team co-ordinate the trip; but when you go out there, there is no boss. Everybody is equal, we work together, eat together and travel together.”
Manor Farm is now part of a PLC called Scandi Standard. This year, Scandi Standard employees from Denmark and Norway travelled to Haiti as well.
The trip has become the main corporate social responsibility project for Scandi Standard. In 2019 as a PLC group they will have donated €150,000 to the chicken project.
Response
“When you come out of the airport you see extreme poverty,” Brendan said. “The volunteers all say to me, ‘Brendan, you never said it was this bad’. People become very emotional and it is then that you realise that you are doing a lot of good.
“We have so much in a developed Ireland in comparison with the Haitian people. Working with the locals, we see a real willingness for people to work hard when given the opportunity.
“There is always a huge smile on their faces. Haven are an excellent charity as they not only set up farms for the local people but teach them how to manage it.
Marketing manager Brendan Nolan said one part of Haiti has a shortage of 200,000 eggs per week so the work they are doing is vital.
“In 2015 we built our first chicken coops, but hurricane Matthew arrived the following year and blew everything down. So we changed the design and the quality of the build which has changed now and is virtually hurricane proof. In some cases people have actually moved out of their homes into the coops and put the chickens in their house.”
When Manor Farm first went out to Haiti, they were sharing one hammer or one set of pliers or reused nails between 20 people on site.
This year, Manor Farm asked some of their suppliers to help provide the tools they needed. Brendan said that suppliers gave them everything they asked for which made a huge difference and the Christine Farm is now fully stocked to allow more work to continue.
Behind the Scenes
Manor Farm sends out technical chicken-rearing experts a number of weeks in advance to advise on more things that could be done to optimise the chicken project. This ensures that everything is set for the volunteers to get to work straight away once they arrive.
Manor Farm puts information about their work in Haiti on their chicken products but, “the problem is that Manor Farm, as a brand, is only 6% to 7% of our overall company turnover, the rest is own-label so people don’t know,” says Brendan. He said that Manor Farm is planning to have a more visible presence in front of customers.
We’ve close to 180 farmers working with us, many of whom are second and third generation to add to the 900-plus direct employees as well as local hauliers and suppliers to the company
“This will allow us to better tell the story of our CSR project as well as all the good things we are doing for sustainability and reducing our use of plastics and other materials
“If you go out to buy a chicken in a retailer, you have a one in two chance of buying a chicken from our factory, but the general public don’t know that. We’ve close to 180 farmers working with us, many of whom are second and third generation to add to the 900-plus direct employees as well as local hauliers and suppliers to the company. There’s a lot of people invested in what the company does,” Brendan said.
A group of 10 Manor Farm staff went on their annual trip to Haiti this year to help build chicken coops for Haitian families looking for a sustainable means of providing a better life for themselves. Manor Farm will have built up to 40 coops since 2015 by the end of this year, each one holding 250 broiler chickens as well as the large egg-laying coop they built in 2018 which houses 1000 birds.
The project is in partnership with Irish charity Haven which runs the “Christine Farm” in Haiti to provide families in poverty with a sustainable form of income.
“In 2018, we landed on a wet day in Haiti, and the following day we began by building the foundations of the large egg-laying coops and the walls which would have been about a metre tall, and then poured the floors,” said Brendan Nolan, marketing manager of Manor Farm.
Manor Farm staff from all areas of the company are invited to volunteer.
“At the end of the five working days, we had a fully functioning chicken house capable of laying much needed eggs for protein for the people of Les Cayes in the south of Haiti. This part of the country has a shortage of 200,000 eggs per week so the work we were doing was vital. We had a lot of help from the locals who were fantastic. They are all now friends for life. We generally started at 7.30am and worked through to 5pm, despite the temperature ranging from 32-40°C.”
Brendan organises the groups from Manor Farm that go out to Haiti. He said that Manor Farm donated some €50,000 in 2018 and that each volunteer was asked to raise a minimum of €500 themselves, but they managed so much more and actually raised a further €20,000.
Manor Farm, through Haven, provides the families with day-old chicks along with the chicken coop, as well as training on how to run the farm
This year, Manor Farm built three coops for broiler chickens during their week-long stay. Each of the coops can provide an income for up to two families which makes a huge impact on their quality of life. They have a good source of income to feed their families but also importantly have the means to send their kids to school.
“Manor Farm, through Haven, provides the families with day-old chicks along with the chicken coop, as well as training on how to run the farm. They also receive feed for the first six weeks of growth,” said Brendan. “At the end of the six weeks, they sell their chickens at the local market for money to grow their farm into the next cycle and to also allow their children to attend school.”
The families who run the farms are carefully selected by Haven personnel on the ground. The Haven personnel know the local people well and choose those families who have expressed the most determination to look after the farms. Haven provide constant support all the time and Manor Farm have visited a number of these farms in 2018 and 2019.
Standing with two Scandinavian volunteers are Colm Breen (middle-left) and Brendan Nolan (far right), marketing manager of Manor Farm.
Brendan describes the experience in Haiti as “mind-blowing”, he says the company make the trip an option for every one of Manor Farm’s 900-plus employees once they have worked in Manor Farm for at least a year.
“We try to make volunteers a mix from the factory floor, administration, middle management and top management. When we go out then there is no “boss” as such. I organise our team and the Haven team co-ordinate the trip; but when you go out there, there is no boss. Everybody is equal, we work together, eat together and travel together.”
Manor Farm is now part of a PLC called Scandi Standard. This year, Scandi Standard employees from Denmark and Norway travelled to Haiti as well.
The trip has become the main corporate social responsibility project for Scandi Standard. In 2019 as a PLC group they will have donated €150,000 to the chicken project.
Response
“When you come out of the airport you see extreme poverty,” Brendan said. “The volunteers all say to me, ‘Brendan, you never said it was this bad’. People become very emotional and it is then that you realise that you are doing a lot of good.
“We have so much in a developed Ireland in comparison with the Haitian people. Working with the locals, we see a real willingness for people to work hard when given the opportunity.
“There is always a huge smile on their faces. Haven are an excellent charity as they not only set up farms for the local people but teach them how to manage it.
Marketing manager Brendan Nolan said one part of Haiti has a shortage of 200,000 eggs per week so the work they are doing is vital.
“In 2015 we built our first chicken coops, but hurricane Matthew arrived the following year and blew everything down. So we changed the design and the quality of the build which has changed now and is virtually hurricane proof. In some cases people have actually moved out of their homes into the coops and put the chickens in their house.”
When Manor Farm first went out to Haiti, they were sharing one hammer or one set of pliers or reused nails between 20 people on site.
This year, Manor Farm asked some of their suppliers to help provide the tools they needed. Brendan said that suppliers gave them everything they asked for which made a huge difference and the Christine Farm is now fully stocked to allow more work to continue.
Behind the Scenes
Manor Farm sends out technical chicken-rearing experts a number of weeks in advance to advise on more things that could be done to optimise the chicken project. This ensures that everything is set for the volunteers to get to work straight away once they arrive.
Manor Farm puts information about their work in Haiti on their chicken products but, “the problem is that Manor Farm, as a brand, is only 6% to 7% of our overall company turnover, the rest is own-label so people don’t know,” says Brendan. He said that Manor Farm is planning to have a more visible presence in front of customers.
We’ve close to 180 farmers working with us, many of whom are second and third generation to add to the 900-plus direct employees as well as local hauliers and suppliers to the company
“This will allow us to better tell the story of our CSR project as well as all the good things we are doing for sustainability and reducing our use of plastics and other materials
“If you go out to buy a chicken in a retailer, you have a one in two chance of buying a chicken from our factory, but the general public don’t know that. We’ve close to 180 farmers working with us, many of whom are second and third generation to add to the 900-plus direct employees as well as local hauliers and suppliers to the company. There’s a lot of people invested in what the company does,” Brendan said.
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