Emerging broiler farmers in the North-Eastern part of the Eastern Cape have been guaranteed a consistent supply of good quality and reasonably priced day-old broiler chicks after the recent launch of a pilot emerging farming hatchery project in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. This joint venture of the Lima Rural Development Foundation, the KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI), the ComMark Trust and TEBA Development conceived and implemented the hatchery project in response to what Lima said was small-scale farmers’ lack of reliable access to quality and cost-effective agricultural inputs, which was apparently keeping many of them from becoming more competitive producers.
“Rural emergent broiler farmers in the area have experienced ongoing difficulties accessing these broiler chicks. Furthermore, the suppliers do not offer transport to outlying areas. The emerging farmer hatchery project aims to overcome these supply constraints,” explained Angela Scott, an agricultural economist with Lima. Gold Fields and the KZNPI co-funded the construction of a small hatchery at the latter’s Pietermaritzburg premises and will supply 1 500 day-old broiler chicks per week at cost price to Eastern Cape entrepreneur, Nominiko Tshayisho of Lusikisiki. Tshayisho will be selling these chicks to emerging broiler farmers in Lusikisiki and others in the Eastern Cape. The ComMark trust funded the facilitation costs of the project, as well as business skills training and mentorship of this entrepreneur.
Lima predicts that the demand for Tshayisho’s chicks will grow considerably and that in a year’s time, the KZNPI’s hatchery will be replicated in Lusikisiki and run by Tshayisho. “I’m so happy that we are no longer going to have price, quality and supply problems with our chicks,” Tshayisho said. “These problems were really discouraging. Now we will no longer have to put up with reject quality chicks being put into our first-grade broiler chick orders.” – Lloyd Phillips
