LUMUT: While many lament life’s hardships, a retired Royal Malaysian Navy serviceman chose a different path, transforming his family’s economic future through determination and resourcefulness.
Hamdan Ahmad Sapli, 58, turned the modest space around his home in Batu 10, Lekir, into a productive micro-farm. Today, he earns up to RM6,000 a month by rearing laying hens.
Hamdan began his journey in April 2022 during the movement control order amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The father of five said egg shortages sparked the idea.
“I discussed with my son about raising laying hens for our family’s food security. I learned everything from YouTube,” he said, adding that he started with 30 hens bought at RM7 each.
He said by August 2022, the hens had begun laying eggs.
Hamdan now manages more than 60 adult hens, including Australorp, White Leghorn, Coral, and Lohman Brown breeds, producing about 30 eggs daily, each sold at 60sen.
He chose laying hens due to their low maintenance and minimal space requirements compared to other livestock.
His chicken coop is uniquely designed using an integrated farming system, where chicken droppings fall directly into a catfish pond beneath.
This not only reduces odour and flies but also supports fish farming, with catfish later used as an additional protein source in feed production, he said.
Beyond poultry, Hamdan cultivates a variety of crops, including kangkung, long beans, mustard greens, Brazilian spinach, pak choy, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass and pandan. He also keeps honey bees, harvesting honey every two months.
His approach aligns with calls by Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad for greater adoption of food security practices under the Perak Sejahtera 2030 Plan.
Passionate about sharing knowledge, he now conducts online courses on poultry farming and urban agriculture. Fees range from RM50 to RM100, and participants come from Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. Since launching the programme in 2023, he has trained some 6,000 participants.
