02 Jun 2020

Lack of capacity  has seen local poultry farmers miss out on an opportunity to dominate the local market.

 Due to their failure to satisfy market demands, Local poultry farmers are still faced with a challenge of importation of some chicken products.

Botswana Poultry Association chairperson, Mr Ishmael Mosinyi, said in an interview that some fast foods outlets dealing in chicken meat preferred to deal with a poultry farmer who has the ability to consistently satisfy their demand.

“Some players in the market would prefer chicken of a certain weight, and therefore for a farmer to consistently supply them with chicken, he/she must be able to satisfy such a standard,” said Mr Mosinyi.

He said it was unfortunate for the local chicken producers as only a few are able to satisfy the stringent quality standards from the buyers.

Mr Mosinyi said chicken weight was an important determination in the market and most of the local poultry farmers were not able to produce chicken of the required weight and therefore failing to secure lucrative deals with fast food franchises.

“Only a few established farmers are able to acquire lucrative tenders in the market as they are able to produce of comparable weight,” he said.

Mr Mosinyi said through the Poultry Liaising Committee, the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security was in liaison with the local poultry  farmers on importation of chicken meat.

“As a result of our short comings, some reputable fast foods outlets are given a go ahead to import chicken that suits their quality standards,” said Mr Mosinyi.

He said they were against importation of chicken products and were encouraging their members to up their game and produce what the market demanded.

Mr Mosinyi was also concerned by the fact that most of the chicken producers were engaged on part time basis, and therefore their time and energy was not devoted in developing the chicken business.

He said that some individuals that were engaged in poultry farming did not last, as they abandoned their projects after a few years due to numerous challenges. 

He said it takes a determined and resilient individual to succeed in any business undertaking.

Mr Mosinyi has also observed that poultry production was dominated by small businesses the majority of which were operating from the back yard.

Under, normal circumstances, Mr Mosinyi said chicken products have an abundant local market, but it was only unfortunate for the small farmers as they were not able to sufficiently sustain lucrative markets.

“They only survive through a hassle of supplying individual buyers as they move from house to house and some food dealers in the informal market,” Mr Mosinyi.

He also observed that some challenges included among others, shortage of chicks, feeds and layers locally.

He noted that since government introduced a subsidy on chicken feeds, there was a surge increase in poultry farming resulting in pressure for those producing chicks and poultry feeds.

Furthermore, he also observed that the move by government to improve the feeding programme at primary schools with among others the introduction of breakfast, registered as a positive development for the poultry industry as small business won tenders to supply.

Mr Mosinyi said shortage of slaughter facilities in the country remained a challenge for poultry farmers and their wish is for members at clustered localities to have a slaughter facility as small scale broiler chicken farmers were greatly affected.

Mr Mosinyi has also indicated that poultry farmers were greatly affected by the COVID–19 pandemic because when it all started, customers stock pilled their products as they were preparing to stay home. 

He said closure of schools has also greatly affected poultry businesses and even securing permits was also a challenge for some farmers.

Despite the challenges, Mr Mosinyi was hopeful that the local poultry farmers working hand in hand with government were in a position to sustain the market and will go a long way in addressing current challenges of the industry. ENDS