Online Reporter
Patience Maturure
Agriculture Reporter
The Government is taking proactive steps to encourage farmers to embrace indigenous chicken rearing as a means of improving local food production.
This comes as one Wedza farmer has raised over 1 000 indigenous chickens, with more than 200 currently producing eggs and an additional 700 approaching maturity.
Speaking during a recent tour of the farmer’s project, Agriculture and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) director, Mr Leonard Munamati, said the initiative emphasised the need to decentralise the Presidential Indigenous Chicken Programme to enhance food security across communities.
“Here the farmer has over a thousand indigenous chickens and at various stages of growth.
“Over 200 are already laying eggs and very soon these other 700 will be at the point of lay,” he said.
Mr Munamati said the Presidential Indigenous Chicken Programme had to be decentralised, especially given that it was progressing well with farmers in different districts successfully raising the indigenous chickens.
“Decentralisation of the indigenous poultry programme is very possible because in each district we have thriving chicken farmers.
“We have a lot of chickens and we have enough to ensure that all the other villagers get at least 10 chickens per household,” he said.
Soon, the Government is set to launch the pass-on scheme, empowering more farmers to achieve its goals ahead of 2030, he said.
Mr Munamati explained that the Government also wanted to improve the quality of goats, increase the population of goats in the country, adding that the Presidential Goat Scheme aimed to do just that.
“We can see that the farmer here has goats of improved breeds, and that is our aim,” he said.
Mr Munamati said the Government would distribute improved male breeds to village heads and headmen for cross-breeding with local goats.
“To boost goat production, we’ll decentralise and fast-track the distribution of improved breeds to households via village heads and headmen, enhancing local genetics and numbers,” he said.
According to the Agriculture, Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy (AFSRTS) 2, poultry is the country’s top protein source, with huge growth potential for both local and exotic breeds.
“Smallholder farmers dominate local and broiler poultry production, while big players are also involved in egg production.
“Reforms and tariff reviews are needed to improve viability and sustainability for the poultry sector,” the report stated.
The livestock sector is the cornerstone of livelihoods for over 60 per cent of Zimbabwe’s population, a primary source of nutrition and a key driver of the national economic recovery and growth agenda.
