Poultry farmers set sights on European market

ABOUT 1 000 farmers have so far received roadrunner chicks countrywide in a project that targets to supply the foreign market with organic chickens.

Under the project, farmers receive chicks which they rear and sell the birds to a trust for exportation.

The project is a result of an overwhelming demand of the chicken breed in Europe.

Small Scale and Subsistence Farmers Trust national chairperson Mr George Hungwe said they embarked on the supply of chicks in a bid to satisfy the European market.

“We have a ready market in Europe hence we came up with a plan of supplying chicks to our farmers countrywide for rearing with the view of buying them when they mature for supply to the ready market,” said Mr Hungwe.

He said they have been failing to satisfy the European market lately.

Egg incubators have been set up across the country with each farmer getting a minimum of 20 birds.

“We have incubators for supply of the chicks to the farmers. So far we have set up two in Matabeleland, one in Masvingo and Midlands. We are setting up more in other provinces in the near future,” he said.

The project is being spearheaded by the small scale and subsistence farmers in conjunction with the ministry of lands, agriculture and resettlement with the aim of boosting the roadrunner stocks in the country.

Mr Hungwe said the programme is running concurrently with a borehole drilling project that the trust is spearheading.

“We are also drilling boreholes for farmers where need to ensure constant water supply. Before we give a farmer the chicks, we first check the environment whether it is conducive for the birds and also water supply. If there is no water we drill a borehole or simply repair the existing one if it is there,” he said. The trust, he said, also has other projects like sugar beans and chia which has a ready Asian market.

Mr Hungwe said the farmers will also benefit from tractors that are set to jet into the country before the kickstart of the summer farming season.