WPF video series helps Africa’s poultry farmers raise more profitable dual-purpose birds

The US-based World Poultry Foundation (WPF) has released a series of training videos to help poultry farmers become more profitable with low-input dual-purpose breeds for both meat and eggs. Dual purpose breeds, which are produced through modern selective breeding, are more productive, faster growing, and better able to thrive off vegetation, insects and table waste than many local breeds.

WPF notes that dual-purpose birds can lay between 130 to 175 eggs annually compared to approximately 50 eggs annually for most local breeds, while the males can reach market weights of 1.8 kg to 2.2 kg in just 13 weeks, compared to 32 to 36 weeks for the local breeds.

WPF CEO Randall Ennis says the series aligns with some of WPF’s key goals, which include improving household nutrition. “By helping farmers to produce more meat and eggs, nutritional status can be improved through both the consumption of a portion of the output, and through a more diverse diet for the household thanks to the profits of more effective farming methods,” he says.

The WFPF videos explain how proper brooding, vaccination and management reduces bird mortality by as much as 40% and significantly increases profits. They also recommend best practices for free range poultry management, feeding and housing; and give informative tips on supplementing family and community meals with eggs.

The training videos, as well as free checklists and worksheets, are available here.

###

Issued by ITP Communications on behalf of the World Poultry Foundation. For further information or please contact Leigh Angelo or Kabelo Phalane at leigh@tradeprojects.co.za or kabelo@tradeprojects.co.za

About the World Poultry Foundation

Formerly known as the USAPEEC International Poultry Development Program (UIPDP), the World Poultry Foundation works to promote economic development in distressed areas and emerging markets outside of the United States by helping to establish the production, availability, and ultimately consumption of a low cost, highly efficient and nutritious protein that poultry can provide. This will be accomplished by providing technical, educational, and any other assistance needed to foster the development of the local poultry and egg industries. The World Poultry Foundation will seek to cooperate and partner with other like-minded foundations, organizations, and governments by assisting them in projects that advance the charitable purposes of the Foundation.

UIPDP was created in 1997 from an opportunity to assist the fledgling Russian poultry industry. Funds from the U.S. government and the poultry industry were leveraged to enter into a joint venture partnership with a Russian broiler production facility. Elinar Broiler was created out of this partnership. After the sale of UIPDP’s shares back to Elinar in 2006, it was agreed that proceeds would be used for charitable purposes outside the U.S. to assist other poultry industries around the world. In 2015, UIPDP was re-named the World Poultry Foundation and restructured to reflect a broader mission for its work yet focusing on the economic development of emerging markets through direct involvement with local industries and farmers.