June 7, 2013

 
Cargill introduces poultry farming mentorship programme in Indonesia

Cargill Indonesia has launched a poultry farming mentorship programme that provides hands-on training to high school students of which Cargill has donated a teaching farm stocked with 500 local Ayam Kampung Super (AKAS) day-old chickens.

Students from Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) Agri Insani, a vocational school in Indonesia, will be the first to benefit from a 90-day programme on how to develop and manage poultry farms.

The farm is fully equipped with tools including eating and drinking containers, temperature-controlled chicken cages and Cargill-supplied chicken feed. During the programme, Cargill experts closely mentor students as they learn how to raise the local chickens from hatchlings till they are harvest-ready. Students are also tutored in farm business management, where they learn skills such as profit and loss calculation, feed efficiency and capital management.

 
 
Akkarit Boontawee, managing director of Cargill Feed and Nutrition Indonesia said,
 

"Our intent is to support Indonesia's smallholder farmers by helping to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of farming practices. Every year, we at Cargill Feed and Nutrition Indonesia commit 1% of our annual earnings towards smallholder farmer training and rural development programmes to give back to the communities where we live, work and do business. We hope that by training the young students of Agri Insani in the techniques of modern breeding, they will leave the programme well-equipped to support and contribute towards the growth of Indonesia's chicken farming industry."

According to research group Business Monitor International, poultry accounts for around 60% of total meat demand in Indonesia, with the production and consumption of poultry growing 3.7% and 5.7% annually respectively over the past decade. Demand for poultry is expected to increase with Indonesia's rising population and income growth, with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) projecting a 30% rise in Indonesians' broiler meat consumption, from 1.53 million tonnes in 2012 to an estimated 1.98 million tonnes in 2021.

Bachtiar, principal of SMK Agri Insani said, "I'm very pleased and grateful that Cargill has set up this initiative. I believe the programme's emphasis on expert mentorship and hands-on training will prove to be valuable in giving our students the practical skills and confidence to become successful chicken farmers and entrepreneurs."