Zambia’s poultry industry is expected to grow by 25% this year an official from the country’s poultry association has stated.
Poultry Association of Zambia (PAZ) executive manager Mathews Ngosa said the poultry industry was expected to close with 36 million broilers and 2.4 million layers with growth in the sector mainly being attributed to the reduction in the cost of feed stock and readily available soya and maize on the market.
Speaking at the 85th Agriculture and Commercial Show, Ngosa said the industry was likely to grow between 20-25%.
“About 65% of the production was in the hands of small-scale farmers. When we had a financial meltdown the small-scale farmers stopped production and we lost 40 per cent growth and commercial farmers also scaled down their production,” Ngosa explained.
With the cost of feed going down and the industry stabilising, the poultry sector had seen a lot of new entrants.
Source: The Times of Zambia