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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Poultry Association (ZPA) says it expects the anticipated bumper harvest to drive output in the sector as well stimulating demand.

ZPA has said it was targeting producing 72 million day-old chicks this year, the second time-running against the country’s annual requirement of over 80 million.

According to official figures from ZPA, the country produced 72 million-day-old chicks in 2020 from which 111 456 tonnes of meat were produced.

ZPA chairman, Mr Solomon Zawe, said their production capacity for 2020 and this year had been affected by the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We keep our fingers crossed because the poultry sector can always pick up occasioned by more production of maize coming up on the ground from the anticipated bumper harvest,” he said.

“We are targeting 72 million-day-old chicks, the same number as last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected production.

“We need to supply more chickens into the market and Zimbabwe looks like it’s now a chicken-eating nation.”

In 2019, the country produced over 75 million-day old chicks while a year earlier production was at 86 million.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, broiler growing and in-production breeding stocks continued to recover from low records in March 2020. Local production of hatching eggs achieved a new high, averaging 8,6 million per month in the fourth quarter of last year.

“At the moment, we are not importing hatching eggs because our production has picked,” said Mr Zawe.

During the year under review, production of broiler day-old chicks rallied from monthly lows of 4,1 million in April and May, increasing to 6,7 million in December.

Zimbabwe’s broiler meat and egg production have been on rebound following the outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) in recent years.

Following the launch of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy by President Mnangagwa in August last year, the poultry sub-sector is expected to make a significant contribution to the envisaged US$8,2 billion agriculture economy by 2025.

The strategy will be underpinned by growing the economy, ensuring Zimbabwe grows its own food and ensuring that a vast swathe of rural families move from poverty to growing affluence. — @okazunga