September 12, 2022

 

Zimbabwe readies 300,000 chicks to help boost rural incomes in local provinces

 

Another batch of 300 000 chicks under Zimbabwe's Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme are ready to be distributed to provinces in the country as part of the Second Republic's drive to alleviate poverty and boost rural incomes in line with the policy of leaving no one and no place behind.

 

The scheme will see three million rural households getting 10 free-range chicks each in batches over the next five years.

 

The scheme is set to commercialise rural poultry production and increase rural incomes while providing households with a rich source of protein.

 

Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association (ZFRPA) secretary general, Beauty Jiji, said there were more smallholder free-range poultry producers across the country who were supplying day-old chicks weekly, or bringing fertilised eggs for hatching.

 

"After the launch of the scheme in Masvingo, we sent almost 18 000 chicks," she said. "We want to send another 5,000 for further distribution in that area to make it 23,000. On the ground, we have brooders across the country and to date, we have more than 300,000 going to be centralised chicks because, on average, we are getting 70,000 chicks per week. We get some from the hatchery and some farmers bring them here."

 

Jiri added that the distribution of chicks will be done once provincial launches were done.

 

ZFRPA is setting up brooders in the provinces to lower costs for the distribution of the chicks and to ensure that each province has a distribution centre.

 

"Farmers around the provinces are going to supply and we are going to have a team at the brooders where chicks are taken from and then distribution is done from there," she said.

 

Jiji said the scheme was not benefiting the three million rural households only; most farmers, who were supplying them with eggs, were also earning much.

 

Poultry producers, who spoke to The Herald, hailed the development, saying they were earning more money through supplying eggs to the Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association at the Exhibition Park in Harare

 

The scheme also raised hopes among rural communities that they will soon become hubs for organically-produced live chicken, eggs and chicken meat in the next two to three years.

 

Furthermore, the scheme intends to provide 30 million rural chickens to three million households throughout the country.

- The Herald