All set for free range poultry standard launch

Edgar Vhera

Agriculture Specialist Writer

STAKEHOLDERS in the poultry industry will today converge in Harare for the launch of the national standard on good agricultural practices (GAP) for free range poultry (road runners) production and marketing.

The event is set to be attended by local, regional and international stakeholders.

Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association (ZFRPA) secretary general, Mrs Beauty Jiji, yesterday said the main objectives of the launch include creating awareness and publicity of the standard, promoting and encouraging the adoption and use of the standard and promoting food and agriculture to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) one and two.

“The launch also aims to promote an alternative and collaborative economic model that is more sustainable and facilitate the transition from broiler production to free range production,” said Mrs Jiji.

The concept note from the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) and ZFRPA shows that due to substantial growth in free range poultry farming in Zimbabwe over the past few years, the need to develop a national standard was seen as necessary.

“The standard, ZWS 1051: 2022: Code of Practice for Good Agricultural Practice for Free Range Poultry Production, was prepared and approved for publication by the Technical Committee FD 055: Meat and Meat Products under the Food Sector in 2022 to address the need.

“The standard focuses on all the free range poultry namely; chicken, turkey, duck and guinea fowl. It takes into consideration the health consciousness and animal welfare concerns which are now being upheld by customers and consumers more fully,” said the note.

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.

The Presidential Poultry Scheme launched on August 25 last year in Masvingo 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 got 10 free-range chicks each in batches over a five-year period.

It is expected that the scheme will make rural communities hubs for organically-produced live chickens, eggs and chicken meat in the next two to three years.

The country is also expected to generate foreign currency from exports of the chickens and associated products.

So far, the Presidential Poultry Scheme has distributed 789 549 birds at different ages, 33 891 stress mix packs and 36 716 packets of 10 kg bags of feed countrywide.

Nearly 80 000 households have directly benefited from the programme with over 2 000 people being employed by the producers’ members.

With the launch of the standard, challenges of low productivity and poor quality will be a thing of the past.

The standard specifies good agricultural practices for free range poultry production, farm management and record keeping for the good quality production of free range poultry.

This will give scope for commercial production and marketing of free range poultry products targeted for a more confident and greater market including the export market.