ZFRPA to distribute 880K birds, as 250K households’ benefit

Edgar Vhera

Agriculture Specialist Writer

THE Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association (ZFRPA) is set to distribute a further 880 000 birds to all the country’s ten provinces between now and December 31, beneficiating 250 000 households since inception.

Government introduced the Presidential Poultry Scheme as one of the eight facets under the Rural Development 8.0 model.

It targets to boost nutrition and incomes for at least three million rural households drawn from across the country.

Launched on August 25, 2022 in Masvingo, the Presidential Poultry Scheme has since spread its wings to all the country’s 10 provinces in line with the Government’s mantra of “leaving no one and no place behind”.

Under the scheme, households get 10 free-range chicks each in batches over a five-year period.

ZFRPA secretary general, Mrs Beauty Jiji, said that her organisation would disburse 880 000 chicks between now and year end to bring the total to 2 500 000 since the programme’s inception.

“At least 250 000 households would have directly benefited by December this year from the current 160 094 with over 2 000 having secured employment under ZFRPA member organisations.

“These figures could have been higher were it not for distribution and logistics challenges emanating from our incapacitation to pay transporters, packagers and most service providers on time due to delayed settlement of accounts that is now running into months,” she lamented.

Mrs Jiji said the industry was pregnant with opportunities, which they could exploit to quickly realise their mission.

“The setting up of provincial production units will solve the logistics and distribution issue, as it decentralises chick distribution equally to all the country’s province unlike now.

“Meat and fertilised eggs aggregation for market and hatching at ward levels has power to ease logistic challenges,” said Mrs Jiji.

Government’s policy of establishing village business units (VBU) can also be expanded to take on board the establishment of free-range poultry inputs and outputs markets, setting up of hatchery units and free-range poultry demonstration units for practical training at low levels.

Government contracted ZFRPA to supply 30 million birds and 300 000 tonnes of stress mix to three million households across the ten provinces of the country.

To date, ZFRPA has distributed 1 600 942 birds at different ages and 101 620 stress mix packs.

Presidential Poultry Scheme bird distributions since inception

Source: ZFRPA, Data as of July 24, 2024

As a result of logistics and transport challenges most of the disbursements of birds this year were in the Harare province, as some transporters shun long distance due to issues like delayed payments.

2024 birds’ disbursement by province

Source: ZFRPA, Data as of July 24, 2024

Free-range chickens are the lowest hanging fruit in livestock production and the only venture where hierarchical approval system to dispose is not required implying that population demographics – all women, youths, disabled and elderly can participate.