October 12,  2020

Zimbabwe sees increased production in small-scale poultry sector

Production at Zimbabwe's small-scale poultry sector has increased significantly at the start of 2020 as households turned to chicken rearing to supplement incomes during COVID-19 lockdowns, said the country's Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement Minister.

Speaking after touring the facility of chicken and egg producer Irvine's Zimbabwe in Harare, Dr. Anxious Masuka said the rise in production is part of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy.

"Since the advent of COVID-19, many people have been staying at home where they have taken up income-generating businesses and, as a result, demand for and the production of chickens have shot up," said Dr Masuka.

"COVID-19 has induced opportunities for localisation of production and we have seen an upsurge in demand for a number of products inclusive of poultry. It is something that we are excited about and we think that it should be sustained. However, we need to look at the whole value chain. In this regard, we are looking at increased production of grains so that they can feed into this system."

According to the chief executive of Irvine's Zimbabwe, David Irvine, the company's production saw a 30% increase in the past 12 months.

He added: "There is a bright future for the poultry industry. We are providing half a million chicks a week into the kumushas (rural areas) and people (there) are making a living, paying school fees and buying clothes for themselves off chicken production. From the kumushas, they are probably producing 800 tonnes of meat from our chicks and that is very big."

- Bulawayo24 News