News
World Poultry Foundation
Reaches Project Milestone in Tanzania, Nigeria
The World Poultry Foundation (WPF) and its partners in Tanzania and Nigeria reached a milestone recently, having delivered brooded dual-purpose chickens to more than one million small holder farmers.
The WPF has been implementing the African Poultry Multiplication Initiative (APMI) since 2017 in Tanzania and Nigeria. The APMI establishes a supply of brooded and properly vaccinated low-input, dual purpose chicken breeds to rural communities.
The program objective is to catalyze a transformation of rural poultry production by helping to scale private sector production and delivery efforts, with a special focus on improved income growth for rural women.
The APMI has empowered rural women to improve the health, nutrition, and overall livelihood of their households by increasing overall household income through increased poultry and egg production.
Randall Ennis, CEO of the WPF, said, “When we began this journey, we anticipated obstacles and challenges, but the APMI has delivered results far beyond expectations. We have now validated increases in production parameters at the village level and can demonstrate empirically the positive impact throughout Tanzania and Nigeria.”
By the end of 2022, WPF plans to reach more than two million farmers.
For more information about the WPF, the APMI and its impact, please contact WPF Managing Director Richard Fritz at 303-408-3933. Additional information can be found at the WPF website at: www.worldpoultryfoundation.org
World Poultry Foundation Announces
Appointment of Elton Maddox to Board of Directors
The World Poultry Foundation (WPF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Elton Maddox to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors.
A veteran of the US poultry industry, Elton joined what is now Wayne Farms in 1974, working in all aspects of management before eventually rising to the role of CEO/Chairman of the Board of Wayne Farms.
Mr. Maddox has served on numerous industry boards during his distinguished career. He is a past President of the Georgia Poultry Federation, the Georgia Poultry Processors Association, and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for both the Georgia Poultry Improvement Association and the National Chicken Council. He continues his dedicated involvement in the poultry industry by serving as a past Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and past Chairman of the US Poultry Harold E. Ford Foundation. Mr. Maddox was the 2017 National Poultry and Food Distributor’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Elton and his wife, Claire, founded the Cross Training Sports Camps which provides physical, nutritional, and spiritual guidance to children across the world. In 2009, Elton and Claire created the Elsie Conde Memorial Sports Camp, which commemorates the life of their granddaughter. In just over four years, the local camps for children with special needs have touched more than 3,000 participants and involved over 300 volunteers.
“Elton’s appointment to our board continues to strengthen and broaden the reach and depth of experience to an already diverse group of professionals who dedicate their time to our mission”, said Eric Joiner, Chairman of the World Poultry Foundation Board.
Randall Ennis, CEO of the WPF commented, “We are honored to have someone with Elton’s passion for the industry and experience of working in developing countries. His poultry knowledge and philanthropic heart will be an asset to our organization.”
In 2019, the WPF announced new board members Jayson Penn, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride, Dr. Mike Lacy, Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia, Bruce Dooyema, Manager of Center Fresh Eggs, and Jim Wayt, Managing Director of Intervision Foods.
For more information, please visit the WPF website at www.worldpoultryfoundation.org.
World Poultry Foundation Announces New Appointments to Board of Directors
The World Poultry Foundation added four professionals in the poultry and egg industries to its Board of Directors. The WPF is pleased to introduce these new members, who will bring their diverse expertise to our organization.
“By expanding our board, we have broadened the reach and depth of experience and further diversified the disciplines represented,” said Eric Joiner, Chairman of the WPF. “The World Poultry Foundation members set the strategic direction of the organization and the addition of these leaders in the global industry provides us a new level of insight and guidance.”
New board members include Jayson Penn, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride, Dr, Mike Lacy, Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia, Bruce Dooyema, Manager of Center Fresh Eggs, and Jim Wayt, Managing Director of Intervision Foods.
Randall Ennis, CEO, stated “We are honored and excited to have the involvement of Jayson, Mike, Bruce, and Jim and their commitment to our foundation. I know that each of the new members are deeply committed to advance the goals of the WPF” said Mr. Ennis. “Our work in Sub-Saharan Africa focuses on improving poultry productivity, increasing farmer incomes, providing better nutritional opportunities and the empowerment of women. The entire WPF Board, along with our new members are focused and dedicated to advancing these goals and improving lives.”
Poultry mentor wins “Champion for Social Entrepreneurs” university prize
As a mentor for the Future Farmers Foundation, Mzwandile Duma
empowers agricultural entrepreneurs by mentoring apprentices and expanding opportunities for others.
Stone Mountain, Georgia. — Mzwandile Duma mentors most of the World Poultry Foundation-supported apprentices in the Future Farmers Foundation apprenticeship program. While Duma’s strong background in agriculture is a key characteristic of his leadership, in his mentorship he focuses on developing apprentices’ soft skills and encourages the best performers by recommending them for WPF-funded internships in the US.
Duma mentors interns across the range of agricultural sectors, but he takes special pride in his poultry apprentices having the lowest dropout rate of any group of emerging farmers in the Future Farmers Foundation program.
“I am driven by the desire to see my mentees grow and strive to be better people,” he says of his impressive success rate.
Beyond the terms of his service contract, Duma also offers assistance to any intern who returns from overseas programs to secure a management-level farm position in South Africa.
Duma’s ties to the Future Farmers Foundation go back nearly a decade. Being one of its earliest participants, he interned for a full year in 2010 on a Florida dairy and beef farm. After an additional four years in the dairy industry, he realized his greatest passion was for changing young people’s lives for the better.
CONTACT:
Richard Fritz
Managing Director
info@worldpoultryfoundation.org
Stone Mountain, Georgia. – With a goal of training 200 poultry producers in record-keeping and financial management, and teaching them how to create financial documents to apply for bank loans, the World Poultry Foundation (WPF) successfully hosted the first of a planned series of financial workshops, Aug. 20-24, 2018, for small and mid-sized disadvantaged South African poultry producers.
Management consulting firm Franchising Plus of Pretoria coordinated the recent workshop, with the support of NedBank, the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and Limpopo provincial agricultural staff. Officials from DAFF and the provincial government observed all financial presentations.
CONTACT:
Richard Fritz
Managing Director
info@worldpoultryfoundation.org
Stone Mountain, Georgia. — On July 10, 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FOA) announced progress in its partnership with the World Poultry Foundation (WPF) focused on improving biosecurity practices of poultry farms and hatcheries located in Viet Nam.
The two organizations, working closely with the Viet Nam Department of Livestock Production (DLP) recently conducted a workshop in the Hung Yen province. The goal of this workshop was to share best practices for hatchery and parent-flock production practices, promote biosecurity measures to protect operations from diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), and to document the management of farms, improvements made to infrastructure and promote best practices to growers as they are currently applied in pilot models.
CONTACT:
Ashley Wiskirchen
Communications Specialist
info@worldpoultryfoundation.org
Stone Mountain, Georgia. — In April 2018 Eric Joiner, Chairman of the World Poultry Foundation Board of Directors, presented Mark Hickman with an award for distinguished service to the foundation.
The Hickman family’s legacy and rich history in poultry has no doubt shaped Mark’s interest to serve and support the industry with his professional experience.
“As the founder of Peco Foods, my grandfather, and later my father, taught me the poultry business from the ground up,” Hickman shared.
CONTACT:
Ashley Wiskirchen
Communications Specialist
info@worldpoultryfoundation.org
Stone Mountain, Georgia. — In April of 2018, the World Poultry Foundation sponsored a two-day training workshop for field extension agents and veterinarians in Ethiopia.
Training and educational programs are an essential part of the foundation’s mission. Hands-on training opportunities facilitated by professionals at the top of their game enable the foundation to carry out its vision of supporting and educating growers and other poultry professionals across the globe.
At the Ethiopian training workshop, sixty-four veterinarians met in Addis Ababa to receive intensive interactive training in the areas of poultry health and management. This workshop was facilitated by Scott Gillingham, DVM and Sainos Manzira, BVSc.
CONTACT:
Ashley Wiskirchen
Communications Specialist
info@worldpoultryfoundation.org
Stone Mountain, Georgia. — The World Poultry Foundation (WPF) has signed a second agreement with the KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI) in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
This agreement renews initiatives to conduct training programs for small holder poultry growers and extension agents throughout the region. The agreement’s primary goal is to train one hundred and sixty individuals in the 2018 calendar year.
CONTACT:
Leah Cochran Mulcahy
USA Poultry & Egg Export Council
770.413.0006
lmulcahy@usapeec.org
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The World Poultry Foundation (WPF) has successfully completed its first two rounds of training to improve the production skills and farm management capabilities of small poultry and egg farmers in underserved rural South Africa.
Working with the KwaZulu Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI), the WPF retained the services of Dr. Mike Lacy, a visiting Fulbright specialist and professor emeritus of poultry science at the University of Georgia. Lacy and Walter Gwala of KZNPI facilitated the weeklong training modules, which attracted small producers, provincial extension agents, and private extension providers.
Partnership with Future Farmers to Focus on Poultry Husbandry Training in US
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Continuing with its mission to improve poultry and egg production in Sub-Saharan Africa, the World Poultry Foundation (WPF) has given a direct grant to the Future Farmers Foundation of South Africa (FFFSA) to train young current and future farmers in the U.S. on poultry husbandry.
Focusing on young South African men and women between the ages of 16 and 30 with a passion for poultry and egg production, FFFSA will use the grant for internships with U.S. poultry and egg companies.
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The World Poultry Foundation (WPF) has received a four year $21.4 million dollar grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to enhance poultry production in Tanzania and Nigeria.
Working closely with government and in-country private sector partners, the WPF will lead a project that will catalyze a transformation of rural poultry production in these two countries. This initiative will increase poultry production and productivity through the access of low-input dual purpose birds, increase rural household income, improve household nutrition and empower women.
University Poultry Scientists Help Poultry Farmers Train Peers
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The World Poultry Foundation (WPF) recently concluded the second phase of a landmark multiyear project to improve poultry and egg production in Ghana by teaching a small group of producers to train other producers with a long-term goal of boosting the industry’s husbandry capabilities.
Funded by the WPF in partnership with the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, this “train-the-trainer” program taught local poultry farmers how to produce chickens more efficiently, with particular emphasis on improving biosecurity to help prevent the spread of disease.
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STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The World Poultry Foundation launched its new website this week, as part of its rebranding initiative.
The rebranding initiative was implemented in 2015 as World Poultry Foundation (WPF) was re- named from the USAPEEC International Poultry Development Program (UIPDP). WPF also hired Randall Ennis, former CEO of Aviagen, as its new CEO.
World Poultry Foundation launches new website
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – The World Poultry Foundation launched its new website this week, as part of its rebranding initiative.
The rebranding initiative was implemented in 2015 as World Poultry Foundation (WPF) was re- named from the USAPEEC International Poultry Development Program (UIPDP). WPF also hired Randall Ennis, former CEO of Aviagen, as its new CEO.
World Poultry Foundation Taps Ennis As CEO
STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Randall Ennis, former CEO of the Aviagen Group, has been named president of the World Poultry Foundation, previously known as the USAPEEC International Poultry Development Program (UIPDP).