By Caroline Chiimba
Game changing technologies in the food and agriculture sector are being availed to vulnerable communities with farmers being encouraged to adopt smart agribusiness practices that form a critical part in building resilience in communities.
Through the ‘Strengthening Community Resilience’ project being implemented in Gokwe North and Kariba districts, ACF Zimbabwe and its local partner Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ) supported the two districts with four solar powered egg incubators to strengthen households’ poultry production capacity and encourage farmers to adopt poultry farming as a business. Each district received two incubators.
In Sawiramakwande ward 8 in Kariba district, more than 200 households are benefitting from the incubator where Barnabas Mugwagwa, a poultry farmer was chosen from a list of farmers to operate and own the 1056 egg capacity solar-powered incubator, after a participatory and competitive selection process.
Barnabas received rigorous training, covering poultry production, egg incubator operation, maintenance and management, egg handling and management, chicken feeding and disease management, along with some other lead farmers in the cluster.
Barnabas Mugwagwa poses with day old chicks he just removed from the incubator (Above picture)
Since the installation of the incubator, more than 3000 eggs have been brought to Barnabas for incubation. More than 100 farmers have accessed incubation services at the site with more than two thousand eggs being hatched so far. The incubator has played a pivotal role in increasing the availability of chicks within the Sawiramakwande cluster and beyond. Thus, a positive project impact through increased chicken flock sizes at households within and surrounding areas of Sawiramakwande cluster.
The incubator services to the community are integrating well with other community resilience building projects, such as the Food for Assets (FFA) Integrated Resilience Programme, supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with World Vision at Mashuma Garden Centre of ward 8 Kariba.
Through its poultry unit, the centre is selling eggs to project farmers at $USD 1.00 for 10 eggs. This mutual integration of value chain activities is poised for expansion as the farmers took their eggs to the incubator priced at $USD 1.00 for 10 eggs toll hatching fees. This has increased availability of day-old chicks and improved chicken flock sizes for farmers in the clusters and beyond.
Wonder Kanesemwa, a BHA beneficiary who is also a participant in the Food Assistance for Assets Program supported by WFP under USAID has hatched more than 300 chicks at the incubator site and sold some of the chicks for profit that saw him buying three goats.