Damilola’s poultry business: festival-driven project management

Learning outcomes Propose alternative financial products and project support tools tailored to seasonal, low-structure contexts. Case overview/synopsis This teaching case follows Mrs Damilola Akinlade, a small-scale poultry farmer in Ikorodu, Nigeria, who times her six-week broiler production cycles around key religious and cultural festivals, such as Eid el-Kabir and Christmas. These events are not only socially significant but also define the periods of highest demand and profitability in Damilola informal enterprise. Her project cycles are shaped by festival calendars rather than fiscal quarters, and her forecasting relies on observation relationship-based signals and tacit experience rather than formal data systems. Damilola's case surfaces multiple project management themes: how planning, monitoring and control are performed without formal tools; how decision-making is influenced by family obligations, market uncertainty and social expectations; and how informal businesses manage demand forecasting through local intelligence. A critical decision point arises when Damilola is offered a quarterly agricultural loan with fixed repayment dates. The finance could expand her operations, but it adds another burden to a business already shaped by shifting cultural calendars, rising feed costs, family obligations and the need to protect her reputation with buyers. The rigid repayment schedule does not align with her income cycle or the flexibility on which her enterprise depends. Complexity academic level This paper is for postgraduate and higher undergraduate levels. Supplementary Material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 9:Operations and Logistics.