Zimbabwe: Poultry industry plunged into crisis

Source: Poultry industry plunged into crisis | The Standard BY MTHANDAZO NYONI ZIMBABWE’S poultry sector has again been plunged into a crisis, with farmers decrying a serious shortage of day-old chicks, high input costs and chick mortality, Standardbusiness has established. Chick prices have risen by between 15% and 20% in the first two months of this year. Farmers, who spoke to Standardbusiness said the situation was dire, rendering poultry farming unviable and unsustainable. “The shortage of day-old chicks in Zimbabwe, particularly Bulawayo and the entire Matabeleland region, has grossly hampered poultry breeding lately. “Many keen farmers have nowhere to access the basics of this white meat source,” a Bulawayo-based farmer, Freeman Moyo, said. “Those few ferried from Botswana (broilers) and Kadoma or Harare are exorbitantly pegged at US$1 each or equivalent (day old), a price that demoralises any aspiring poultry farmer. “Only seasoned farmers are left to endure the ever ...