Irvine's expands, invests P56m in poultry value chain
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday November 22, 2022 06:00
Irvine’s Botswana, a BITC-accredited company established in 2001, has the primary aim of supplying COB500 day-old broiler chicks targeting small and large-scale farmers in responding to the gap in the market.
The company set up a hatchery in Francistown in 2002 and later established a breeder farm in 2007, with a staff complement of 119.
The company expanded its operations in 2021, setting up a Feed Mill and Head Office in Mmamashia.
It currently operates a hatchery, a modern broiler breeder farm and a modern feed mill which supplies the poultry sector in Botswana. When officially launching Irvine’s Botswana’s feed mill President Mokgweetsi Masisi said the company comes at an opportune time when government is coming up with key initiatives to close existing gaps in the agricultural sector, to achieve food self-sufficiency and also become a net exporter of agricultural products. “The sector in its entirety has enormous potential to catalyse economic growth post-covid-19 pandemic. Irvine Botswana currently produced 18,000,000 broiler day-old chicks and 48,000 tons of feed per year.
Of this huge production, 60% of the chicks and feed is supplied to the small-scale farmers across the country and the balance goes into the commercial sector,” he said. Irvine’s poultry production contributes to almost 50% of all chicken meat consumed in Botswana. Irvine’s currently supplies over 5,000 growers to mostly women and youth businesses, thereby positively contributing to their upliftment.
In the milling plant, Irvine’s has ensured that the raw material is sourced locally and the company has to secure a significant portion of their maize requirements from local farmers, thus supporting the agricultural community. “This does not only have direct benefits to farmers who are producing maize cobs for the company, but also a market access that Irvine’s has created for them,” he said.
On his part, the Minister of Trade and Industry Mmusi Kgafela applauded BITC for continuing to extend and fortify government’s intentions to grow and diversify the economy by attracting and facilitating investment in key economic sectors such as the agricultural sector. He said the courtship between BITC and Irvine’s Botswana over the past two years has realised some results.
He said they have realised this through the expansion into the Mmamashia project, which has injected additional investment and employment as well as an immense contribution towards the poultry value chain.