Poultry industry grows 22% in Q1

The poultry industry in Zimbabwe recorded a 22 percent growth in the first quarter of 2015 after producing 17 million broiler day old chicks, an industry official has said.

The Source reported that Zimbabwe Poultry Association (ZPA) chairperson Solomon Zawe said the industry was booming in the first quarter but could slow down in the second quarter due to dormant economy.

 "Poultry industry was booming in the first quarter of 2015 as we produced about 17 million day old chicks compared to the same period last year. This is an increase of 22 percent," Zawe said.

"The market is looking good. We are quite happy with the fact that the government will import maize from Zambia and that will reduce our production costs in the sense that maize would be cheaper."

Zawe said the industry was projecting a 10 to 15 percent increase in the second half due to a liquidity crisis. Last year the industry produced over 60 million chicks.

This year Zawe indicated that they are targeting to produce over 70 million day-old chicks. Zimbabwe has a combined hatching capacity of 76 million day-old chicks per annum but over the years, cheap imported chickens have flooded the local market edging out local producers.