Obert Chifamba
Agri-Insight
THE soon-to-be-rolled out Presidential Rural Poultry Scheme has success written all over it.

Essentially, there are more reasons for it to succeed than fail on the part of the 1,8 million households participating in the pilot programme given that it will just require them to tap into their traditional knowledge of rearing indigenous chickens — the road runners.

Where they used to produce road runners for the table and the occasional sale to generate some cash and take care of some expenses, they now just need to add a business edge and do it commercially so the way they will perform will set a precedent that will influence how the programme will run elsewhere.

In its report on the state of preparedness for the 2021/22 agricultural season, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement indicated that the Presidential Rural Poultry Pass-on Scheme would be targeting to commercialise rural poultry production, increase rural incomes and provide cheap source of protein.

The scheme will see the distribution of free-range chicks to at least 1,8 million rural households in groups over a period of five years with the first group of beneficiaries expected to pass-on 10 by two-months old chicks to the second group of beneficiaries who will in turn pass-on to the third group of beneficiaries until all the 1,8 million households get their turns.

As part of the package, the scheme will also supply 10 unsexed chicks, 10kg free-range poultry starter mash and one sachet of vitamin stress mix pack to each household.

The breeds of the chickens will include boschveld, sasso and indigenous chickens among others.

The distributed chicks are expected to start production five months after distribution, with each hen expected to produce a minimum of four clutches (production cycles) per year under semi-intensive production system.

The average production for each clutch is 10 chicks with an annual chick production of 40 chicks per hen. The male chickens can be sold as breeding stock to other farmers, exchanged for females or be sold as meat.

Under intensive production, up to six clutches per hen can be achieved annually.

To give traction to the programme, agricultural extension officers will also undergo an in-service refresher training course on rural poultry production and proceed to capacitate all beneficiaries through regular training and advisory services in rural poultry production.

The training will cover aspects of housing, feeds, disease and breed management of rural poultry.

There will also be distribution of 10 rural chicks, 10kg rural chick mash and one sachet of vitamin stress pack per household in all the country’s eight rural provinces from 2021 to 2025.

The programme will be rolled out at an estimated cost of US$13,05m with Phase 1 targeting 225 000 households in 2021 in Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South, Midlands and Masvingo and thereafter pass-on.

Phase 2 will also take on board another 225 000 households in 2022 from the rest of the four provinces and thereafter pass-on.

It is envisaged that the distributed chicks, if properly managed and taken care of would boost meat and egg production, which would help improve food security and nutrition for the households while increasing the rural per capita incomes as well.

In essence, the success of the programme will depend largely on the attitude of the beneficiaries, as it does not require them to do much in terms of investment save for their labour and the astute deployment of resources they receive when they start it.

The good thing is that no household may claim to be coming across rural poultry farming for the first time, as they should have at some point kept even as little as two chicks at the homesteads.

The only difference is that the programme is now expected to be run professionally and accountably.

For this one, there is no random slaughtering of the birds to quench an insatiable desire for meat. If a shop owner pays for goods she takes from the shelves, then the poultry farmer must also develop that habit of treating business seriously and account for every bird in her coop.

This should start with the nature of the housing structure, which the farmer will build for the chicks. It has to be built to standards that show the business intentions behind and show customers the seriousness of the people running the project.

The housing should be able to shelter the birds from whether elements and provide security from prowling predators and even thieves.

It is the duty of the benefiting household to ensure that the birds get that protection, as well as adequate food and water while there should also be proper and enough brooding structures to allow them to produce off-spring. Beneficiaries should also start looking around for markets bearing in mind that a lot of people now prefer indigenous chickens to exotic breeds, hence the high prices they fetch as well.

In fact, the project could not have come at a better time than now when there is a growing demand for indigenous chickens with some food outlets introducing them as part of traditional dishes in their menus.

It is refreshing to note that Government has also roped in extension officers and the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to take care of farmers’ technical requirements so that they make informed decisions that give more life to the project.

Extension officers will, in fact, be there to give farmers guidance in the general running of the project, which in reality, should just be a top-up to the knowledge they already have.

It will be cruel for the project to fail given the fact that it is not a new thing but has just been modified to be more rewarding than before.

The other positive matter is that indigenous chickens are very susceptible to diseases and have more resilience to health problems than broilers, which makes them easier for farmers to manage.

Farmers can also use traditional medicines such as aloe, which do not come at a cost to treat some health complaints and also capitalise on road runners’ ability to survive as free rangers scavenging to cut on feeding costs.

But before the chickens go out for the day, farmers must always make it a point that they give them feed and water officially so that whatever they pick out there will buttress what they would have taken in before leaving the coops.

It is also important to fence off the area inside which the birds will be foraging to make sure they do not stray for long distances, which increases chances of them facing dangers.