Ivorian Poultry Mission to The Netherlands
Poultry is recognized as a very promising sector for Dutch and Ivorian collaboration. The West Africa team commissioned a Poultry Sector Study in 2019. Ever since there has been close contact with the Ivorian authorities on potential collaboration and public-private interventions. This has led to a high level delegation visit from Ivory Coast to the Netherlands in April 2022. One of the first mission to The Netherlands after the long Covid restrictions.
" Poultry is recognized as a very promising sector for Dutch and Ivorian collaboration"
The Mission
At the invitation of the Dutch Government, the Ivorian Ministry of Animal and Fisheries Resources (MIRAH) took part in a poultry mission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands from April 18 to 23, 2022. This mission was part of the setting up of a collaboration between the MIRAH and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its objective was for the Ivorian participants to become acquainted to the development of the Dutch poultry sector through meetings and visits respectively with Dutch experts and operators in the poultry sector. The mission was led by Mr. Yapo Guillaume DAGOU, Director of Program Statistics Planning (DPSP, MIRAH). He took the opportunity to establish contacts with public and private players in the Dutch poultry sector.
The mission took place from April 19th to 22nd, 2022 in the Netherlands. It took the form of meetings with heads of Dutch institutions and companies specializing in the poultry sector, as well as visits to the Koudijs factory, Wageningen University, the AERES International Training Center, Hendrix Genetics and the Vencomatic Group.
Visits and Exchanges
A key meeting took place at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. This was chaired by Guido Landheer (Deputy Director General) and allowed the Head of the Ivorian delegation to present the strengths and weaknesses of the Ivorian poultry sector and the Ivorian ambition to be self-sufficient and competitive by 2030. During this session, the general situation of the poultry sector in the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as an introduction to the Dutch poultry farming and food safety were presented.
Meeting with private players in the Dutch poultry sector like the Dutch Poultry Center, NEPLUVI and AVINED allowed the Dutch operators to present their organization as well as their functioning within the Dutch system. The delegation visited the Koudijs plant, Wageningen University, the AERES International Training Center, Hendrix Genetics and the Vencomatic Group. The visit to the Koudijs feed manufacturing plant was marked by a presentation on the investments made by Koudijs in Côte d'Ivoire and a guided tour of the plant. This allowed the delegation to immerse themselves in the process of manufacturing poultry concentrates. The Ivorian delegation expressed during this stage its wish to establish a partnership with Koudijs within the framework of capacity building for actors in the poultry sector.
At Wageningen University two presentations were given. The first presentation by Mr. Adriaan Vernooij, project coordinator at Wageningen University, focused on the opportunity for training and capacity building, while the second related to "the efficiency and competitiveness of the poultry sector in West Africa" was presented by Mr. Peter Van Horne, Economist at Wageningen University. During this stage, the mission was able to inquire about the various research programs implemented by WUR in the context of the development of poultry farming in the Netherlands. The Ivorian delegation has expressed its interest in establishing a partnership with WUR in the training of actors and research and development in the poultry sector.
The same can be said about AERES International Training Center that was visited on Thursday April 21, 2022. This visit was marked by a presentation on the training center's various training programs and a guided tour of its food manufacturing unit.
At Hendrix Genetics a presentation on breeding stock, genetics and technology was made by Mr. Peter Arts, Manager of the Africa zone at Hendrix. This presentation was followed by a presentation of the hatchery whose visit was canceled for biosecurity reasons. As at all the previous stages, the delegation expressed its great interest in establishing a partnership agreement with the Hendrix Group as part of the installation of the Grand Parents' farm in Man as part of the Poultry Sector Modernization Project. (PMSA).
The final visit was to the VENCOMATIC Group. These exchanges allowed the delegation to present the constraints of the Ivorian poultry sector in terms of training, equipment and infrastructure. It was decided to establish a collaboration with the VENCOMATIC group in the context of training and technology transfer. To this end, the Africa sales manager expressed the ambition of a modern experimental farm to be set up with the modern equipment of the said group as part of the training of actors in the Ivorian poultry sector.
Follow up
The Ivorian delegation was delighted with the contacts made, in particular with private players in the Dutch poultry sector. This participation was an opportunity for the whole delegation to immerse themselves in the development policy of Dutch poultry farming, the organization and the full and complete involvement of the players in the Dutch poultry sector. Several innovations are noted in the field of buildings and equipment in farms, technologies, information management, energy and genetic progress.
For any inquiries send an e-mail to The Netherlands Embassy, Abidjan on abi-ez@minbuza.nl or acc-lnv@minbuza.nl for West Africa Agricultural team.