INCUBATORS ENHANCE POULTRY PRODUCTION
By HAPPY MULOLANI
THE need for smallholder
farmers to engage in livestock production is apparent given that the livestock
sector in Zambia is increasingly a vital component of Zambia’s economy.
Admittedly, the sector has potential and capacity to contribute towards poverty
alleviation thereby increasing the socio-economic status of most people to
ultimately contribute to the economic growth of the country.
According to the Status
Report of Smallholder Livestock Sector in Zambia, the smallholder sector makes
up 80% of the country’s total livestock, with only 20% under the commercial
sector.
In particular, poultry production
is one of the enterprises smallholder farmers have aggressively taken up which
has proved to be offering these farmers reasonable marginal profits.
Given the high demand for
poultry products such as eggs, which is a product widely used for different
purposes, the need to innovate is key to meet the already escalating demand for
eggs among farmer communities, other key players and potential buyers. It is
envisioned that the production capacity is enhanced; and also boost the
livestock sector in Zambia
For this reason, an entrepreneur
has made drastic strides in pursuing this niche of making incubator machines
meant to hatch eggs at a high capacity, as it is a necessity if the ever
increasing market demand is to be met.
Emmanuel Chisha, is a
Lusaka based entrepreneur and recounts how he opted to identify a niche in the livestock
sector. His idea was to contribute to innovations to enable both smallholder
and commercial farmers’ boost their production capacities in the sector.
Mr Chisha narrates that
he set-up Sebro Products, an Incubator manufacturing company in 2009 through
establishing a network of successful relationships with clients, in this case
smallholder farmers and other prospective buyers both locally and regionally. At
first, this idea looked over ambitious but turned out to be workable as he
manufactured 300 incubators, which he managed to promptly supply.
“The feedback l got was
overwhelming as our farmers, who were potentially the targeted buyers were
excited at the prospect of meeting the high demand of eggs on the market,”
equipped Mr Chisha.
He explained that the
incubator sizes vary depending on one’s production capacity.
“The smallest incubator
can accommodate 520 chicken eggs while the largest can successfully handle
16,400 chicken eggs,” said Mr Chisha.
The incubators are not
necessarily complex in their operation but quite user friendly technology which
any user can easily adapt to.
“Our incubators have
user-friendly technology which seamlessly automates the hatching process. Once
the eggs are in place, the systems are activated to automatically control the
humidity and turn the eggs. Besides, the technology installed also regulates
the environment temperature. This enables a stress-free workflow throughout the
incubation period which, for chicken eggs, is about 21 days,” explained Mr Chisha.
Clearly, the purchase of
these incubators is not restrictive to any group but is offered to a range of potential
buyers.
He adds that, “the
incubators are purchased by small farming lobbyists, people testing the water
of poultry farming to full-fledged hatcheries.”
The incubators run at
optimum capacity and supplies are not limited to Lusaka clients but cater for
all provinces in the country.
“We are usually running
at full capacity. Once an order is placed, our team delivers the customer’s
order within seven working days. We have supplied to customers within town and
in other provinces through our logistics partners,” he assures.
Mr Chisha observes that
this innovation is a pioneer industry which has been birthed and attributes its
rapid growth to the proliferation of the free range poultry industry. The
internet is also one of the avenues that has catalyzed online learning as it
offers a lot of available resources.
“This has been catalyzed
by the ease of access to learning resources through the internet and other
channels,” he said.
The government’s emphasis
through the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) on the importance of
farmers taking farming as a business and increasing household incomes has
witnessed the promotion of an entrepreneurship culture coupled with the
awareness created on healthy eating habits, which has motivated households to
breed their own chickens.
The realization of most
households that free range chickens are a healthier option has also prompted
farmers to opt for these chickens because their diet has little or no
artificial or synthetic chemicals known to be carcinogenic, which tends to lead
to health complications to human body once consumed for extended periods.
With the status quo,
there are enormous business opportunities for incubator owners to gain from,
such as providing a hatching service whilst clients who have their own eggs wishing
to have them hatched are charged a fee per egg. And the other option is breeding
stock of chickens together with the incubator.
“The breeding stock will
lay enough eggs to grow your stock for meat as well as sell day-old-chicks,”
notes Mr Chisha.
He echoes that incubator
innovation is a lucrative business which has improved the livelihood of many
households. From his own experiences and interactions in the industry, he
testifies that many inventors have turned into successful Small Medium
Enterprises (SME), after their humble beginnings.
One of the farmers in
Chikumanino area in Kasama, Mirriam Gondwe purchased an incubator in 2016 from
Mr Chisha, which has a capacity to hatch 2,500 chicken eggs.
Mrs Gondwe says that the
incubator is used to hatch eggs for broilers, village chickens and quails.
“The demand is overwhelming at the moment,
when I purchased the incubator we had buyers outside Kasama such as from
Lusaka, Copperbelt, Muchinga and Luapula provinces,” she disclosed.
Mrs Gondwe says presently
she has a list of buyers, which has meant scheduling every thursdays as
collection days for buyers in order to meet the high demand.
She reveals that she
makes a minimum profit of K8, 000 per month and K15, 000 maximum per month
which is a positive stride in her business.
The only setback is the
high cost of power and feed which tends to lead to high operational costs in
her hatching business. With this realisation, Mrs Gondwe has committed herself
to putting in place a backup system and also purchase a generator to supplement
the power and feed concerns.
“Purchasing a generator
and having a backup system will greatly boost and grow the business further,”
she reaffirms.
