Ducks for Doaa

An Egyptian entrepreneur pays it forward

Video by Dave Cooper | Photos by Thomas Cristofoletti
July 2016

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Young girl in a classroom.

Doaa Mohammed Bakr Turky is one of just two girls in her 12th grade class at an agricultural school in Esna, Egypt, a lush community on the West Bank of the Nile, south of Luxor. And until recently, she was also the only one of her five siblings attending school.

A family affair

The 18-year-old lives with her immediate family alongside 200 relatives in a rural community in Upper Egypt.

Doaa’s family is poor. Her father Mohammed is the facility keeper and gardener at Doaa’s school, but he makes barely enough money to support his eldest daughter’s education.

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A man and woman sit side by side with their four children.
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Two men walking by a large tree next to a building in a rural village.

An education in agriculture

At school, Doaa and her classmates learn modern farming practices, how to raise livestock and to make dairy products in a lab. In Egypt’s fertile south, where there is great agricultural potential, a network of these USAID-supported schools train a new generation of growers and breeders.

This year, Esna School also took part in an entrepreneurship competition where students submitted proposals for original business ideas.

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People in a lab wearing masks covering their mouths and nose.
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People working on plants in a greenhouse.
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Young women feed cattle as other students gather behind them.

A winning idea

The program received over 200 proposals from students at 10 schools — including Doaa’s idea to start a duck farming business. Doaa's proposal was selected and she received the equivalent $200 in in-kind assistance to buy 140 ducklings to start her business.

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Young woman carries cuttings of vegetable.
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A flock of ducklings on the ground.

“When I first bought my ducks, I was honestly very excited about them,” she says.

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Young woman wearing pink head cover smiles as she stands outdoors.
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A flock of ducklings gathered together.
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A duckling jumping out of a bucket of water.
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Close up of a hand full of vegetation.
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Young woman carrying a bunch of vegetation on her right arm.

“Like the kids I don’t even have”

Doaa’s family had raised ducks in the past, so her mother taught her how to properly care for the ducklings.

“Every day I would feed them, cut them clover, make them swim and sleep, talk to them and love them like my kids I don’t even have,” she says.

Doaa didn’t know it at the time, but her ducks were about to change everything.

A better life

After selling the first batch of ducklings, Doaa was able to buy 140 more.

She also had enough money remaining to buy her siblings school uniforms and textbooks, and the family could finally afford to put all of their children through school for the year.

With what remained, Doaa invested in chickens to sell eggs and poultry. Her growing business became a crucial source of household income.

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Two women and a man sitting together.
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A young woman sets food on a platter.
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A round platter full of food.

“She boosted our income and improved our living situation, compared to how we were living,” said Doaa’s mother, Amal. “Thank God, we were able to buy everything we needed.”

As her business grew, so did Doaa’s stature.

“I am very happy. My father, my mother, my uncles, and the whole family is happy that I have become a big business woman,” says Doaa. “I make them proud.”

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Young woman wearing a pink head cover.
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Young woman standing outside

A Gesture of Hope

But there was one thing that made Doaa’s parents even prouder than her business acumen: her generosity.

Doaa began selling ducks at a discount to those who couldn’t afford to pay full price and gifting them to the most vulnerable.

“My mum and dad taught me to treat people well,” says Doaa. “To give to the poor and the needy.”

High hopes

Today, Doaa hopes to invest in more animals, such as cows, for milk and meat. Meanwhile, her impact on the people around her grows every day.

“We hope for the whole family to have similar projects,” says Doaa’s mother.

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A woman and a man sit together.
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A young woman smiling and wearing a pink head cover.
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A group of children.

Says Doaa’s father: “You do good to people, the same way God does good to you. So that goodness can flow between people.”

About This Story

Across rural southern Egypt, poverty is rife and economic opportunities are limited, despite the area’s tremendous agricultural potential. Young women like Doaa often forgo their educations to marry young and raise a family.

USAID seeks to lessen the poverty experienced in communities like these by increasing the productivity and employability of Egypt’s youth. USAID-supported agricultural technical high schools teach thousands of Egyptians to become better farmers, growers, dairy producers and breeders.

The competition Doaa’s school participated in was organized by the Premium Project for Egyptian Small Growers and Blue Moon Ltd. and was funded by USAID. Teachers there and at nine other schools were trained to help test the feasibility of and implement their students’ agribusiness ideas. Students with winning ideas like Doaa’s were given around $200 to start their business ventures.

Through projects like these, USAID helps communities foster entrepreneurship, better agricultural practices and lessen poverty — one idea at a time.

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