Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) has shot down suggestions that it sidelined Botswana Poultry Association (BPA) in the formulation its newly launched poultry financial suite.
The CEDA financial suite targets 269 poultry farmers, with projected production of approximately 18.26 million chickens ready for slaughter, the establishment of three new hatcheries capable of producing18.36 million day-old chicks annually, and a P1 billion market through integrating community-based producers into the national school feeding programme.
Some farmers have however expressed concern that the suite’s requirements, which include borehole drilling completion certificates and water reticulation, may exclude small scale producers, many of whom operate without boreholes on their broiler and indigenous chicken farms.
Critics have argued that chicken production does not need a borehole therefore deeming the requirement too stringent for farmers and those doing start-ups.
In a written response, CEDA Head of Corporate Affairs Disang Nage told thios publication that the BPA was engaged both through the sector’s established representative structure and, more recently, through direct bilateral engagement with CEDA.
“The BPA, as a member of the Poultry Liaison Committee (PLC), was part of the consultative structure through which sector input was channelled during the development of the suite,” Nage said. “Industry stakeholders on the PLC contributed to shaping the initiative through consultations with government agencies and sector participants. Even when it comes to value chain assessment before redesigning any of the products, the agency undertook a comprehensive assessment of the poultry value chain.”
Nage further revealed that producers, processors, feed manufacturers, hatcheries, retailers, veterinary professionals, biosecurity officers and financial institutions were engaged in the process that surfaced both structural market imbalances and operational gaps at enterprise level, which directly shaped the design of each product within the suite.
He said beyond the PLC-level consultation, engagement between CEDA and the BPA has deepened since the two held a bilateral meeting in June which covered matters relating to the Poultry Financial Suite, broader industry developments, and areas of collaboration between the two organisations.
The sector is currently dominated by a handful of major players, with just two broiler hatcheries producing over 41 million day-old chicks annually, two-layer hatcheries and point-of-lay hen suppliers which rear approximately 850,000 layers per annum. Further, the country has only 21 registered, licensed, and operating abattoirs most of them privately owned, and not evenly distributed across territory.
CEDA has further emphasised that the new financial suite is designed to strengthen the industry as a whole while reducing Botswana’s dependence on imported poultry products and creating new opportunities for citizen-owned businesses.
