Sky falls on Imports as Tanzania Becomes Major Exporter of Chicken

By Omega Mlay On Sep 4, 2022

Tanzania is bracing to become East Africa’s leading hatcher and exporter of quality poultry products.

This follows the unveiling of new broiler breeding farms in Siha District at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The new Grandparent farms and a Parent Stock hatchery firm is being set up at the cost of 34 billion/-.

The hatchery is among the breeding projects undertaken by Aviagen East Africa Tanzania Limited.

The Project in Kilimanjaro Region intends to make Tanzania a major supplier of poultry, chicken and related products in Eastern Africa.

The Aviagen broiler breeding entity was officially inaugurated by the Minister of Livestock and Fisheries, Mashimba Ndaki.

“Tanzania has been incurring heavy costs of importing chicken, whose demand exceed local supply,” he said.

Ndaki feels that with projects like the Aviagen farm, the country will soon become self-sufficient as far as demand for quality poultry products is concerned.

The Minister added that breeding of top quality broilers also means that the country is going to earn foreign currency from their export

The greenfield project of Kilimanjaro is where Aviagen East Africa will hatch, breed and supply high quality broiler stock.

The company works to extend its territory on the African continent.

The Siha District Commissioner, Thomas Apson said the new hatchery project opens wide gates of employment opportunity to local residents in Kilimanjaro Region as well as the Northern Zone.

“It is a privilege to us that the investors have chosen our district to host this national project,” Apson maintains.

The Chief Executive Officer of Aviagen, Jan Henriksen says more than just business, the breeding industry plays an important role in building sustainable communities around the world.

It was described that the potential for increasing poultry production and consumption in East Africa is immense and the investment will aid in this increase.

Already the Northern Zone is home to nearly 1.7 million Chickens, but most of these are traditional breeds.

Chicken Little?

Population growth and macroeconomic improvements are driving the demand for chicken meat.

Aviagen finds Tanzania to be a prime, strategic choice for the development as it is perfectly placed geographically, and the environment is ideal for poultry production.

On the other hand, it is being reported that health concerns make people migrate from red to white meat, further driving the demand for products such as fish and chicken in the local diets.