Poultry sector for sustainable economic growth in Tanzania
From the 24th to 26th of May 2022, the Kuku na Kuku (KnK) partners came together at Kilacha Agriculture and Livestock Training Center (KALTC) in Himo, Tanzania, to celebrate the official opening of the two poultry demonstrations farms and the graduation of the trainees who participated in the KnK training programme.
Tanzania and the Netherlands are important trade partners and maintain a valuable partnership towards a sustainable food sector. For the past few years, Tanzania’s population has been growing, rapidly increasing the demand for animal protein. As the poultry sector in Tanzania is emerging steadily, it offers great potential for growth and investment. To fully unlock Tanzania’s competitiveness in poultry, a partnership of Tanzanian stakeholders and seven Dutch companies was established under the name of Kukua na Kuku (KnK), meaning Grow with Chicken in Swahili. These seven Dutch companies are; Aeres Group, Royal GD Animal Health, Hendrix Genetics, I Grow Chicken, Impex Barneveld B.V, Trouw Nutrition, and Vencomatic Group.
Driven by the overall ambition to promote and support the continuous development of the poultry sector in Tanzania, the KnK Impact Cluster was aimed to improve farm management, local farmers’ efficiency, productivity and the quality of their produce, animal health, and marketing as well as to ensure the availability of quality feed and suitable equipment. These objectives were targeted, as KnK believes that by investing in the entire value chain of Tanzania’s poultry sector and by enhancing capacity building through the latter, the sector will catalyse the growth of demand for good quality poultry products.
During the first two days of the event, poultry farmers and trainees were invited to attend presentations and workshops by the cluster members. Participants shared insights on their acquired skills and knowledge over the course of the programme as well as discuss remaining challenges in the Tanzanian poultry sector, such as cold chain storage and access to markets. The overall event gave room for business exchanges between Dutch and Tanzanian companies. The official opening and graduation took place on the third and last day.
Project impact and lessons learned
The three-day event in Himo also marked the closure of the 3.5 years of collaboration of the cluster members and served as an occasion to jointly look back at the project’s objectives and impact. The KnK Impact Cluster has achieved significant results in Tanzania in relation to programme exposure, outcomes for Tanzanian farmers, and outcomes for Dutch partners.
More than 40.000 people were reached through the project’s communication in Tanzania and the Netherlands. 784 farmers, 32 veterinarians and 35 trainees participated in the poultry training. The Dutch private sector benefited from the promotion of knowledge and technology through the visibility of the programme and was able to effectuate various business linkages. Two complete training manuals for broilers and layers have been developed and a sector-wide campaign to promote poultry products in Tanzania took place.
When talking to participants, many highlighted the new knowledge and skills acquired as most valuable. Together with Kilacha, an official poultry curriculum was developed in which Dutch techniques and Tanzanian knowledge were combined. Learning in practicewas made possible through the improvement of the training facilities. Attention to individual talent development in line with professional skills prepared students for future jobs in the poultry sector.
“I learned a lot from the training and I can now transfer the knowledge to 400 female poultry farmers in the Kilimanjaro region. I teach students at a college. These students often even teach their own parents. By applying the skills and knowledge, it can improve their livelihood.” - ToT graduate.
“Before the training, I was only focusing on medicine and direct treatment of poultry diseases. Thanks to the training, I learned more about disease prevention and monitoring and how important it both is." - Poultry veterinarian participating in the training.
More Information
For more information about poultry please contact directly Femke Konatey-Dekker via femke.dekker@nabc.nl
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