Rwanda imports approximately 150 000 day-old chicks per month from countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Uganda, according to Rwanda’s Ministry of Agriculture.

AgDevCo’s investment will allow Uzima Chicken, sponsored by a US-based investor, Flow Equity (which has a similar business model in Ethiopia), to produce between eight million and 10 million chicks a year.

This will in effect significantly reduce the country’s dependence on chick imports.

Chris Isaac, regional director of AgDevCo, said: “We believe Uzima Chicken can transform the poultry market in Rwanda by delivering improved birds to hundreds of thousands of households.

We have seen the model’s success in Ethiopia and are confident that, with continuing support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Uzima Chicken is well-placed to replicate that success in Rwanda.”

Uzima plans to sell day-old chicks through a network of independent distributors, who will rear the birds until they are four weeks old before selling them to smallholder farmers.

The SASSA dual breed will be produced, as it is ideal for rearing outdoors in backyard conditions, gains weight quicker than local chickens, and is three to four times more productive at laying eggs, according to the statement.

The initiative forms part of a greater plan by the Ugandan government to reduce its dependence on chick imports from other countries. In August 2016, Flow Equity secured a 25-year contract for Uganda’s 2,3 billion RWF National Hatchery, Rubirizi, at 750 million RWF per year.

Privatisation of the hatchery resulted in production increasing from 10 000 to 80 000 day-old chicks per month. The government also allocated 15ha of land in Bugersera District to the company to facilitate expansions.

The supply of day-old chicks from Rwanda’s hatcheries has increased 23% from 399 000 in 2010 to 912 000 in 2015, with Rwanda Chick representing 74% of national production.

The partnership is the first for Philafrica, a subsidiary of SA’s AFGRI Group, which focuses on investing in food categories across Africa, as well as on locally-sourced raw materials.

Founded in 2005, Novos Horizontes was working to unlock Mozambique’s agricultural potential by supporting smallholder farmers.

Novos Horizontes initially had 250 smallholder broiler outgrowers to which it supplied necessary inputs on credit and from which it purchased full-grown birds for slaughtering, processing and marketing.

According to the company’s website, this number had decreased to around 130 smallholder farmers as a result of production challenges.

Andrew Cunningham, executive chairperson of Novos Horizontes, said that with Philafrica’s support, the company could continue with its aim of becoming Mozambique’s “premier poultry producer”.

It also wanted to expand into other value chains where agro-industrial processing and building brands could buy production from Mozambique’s smallholder farmers.

“We are excited by the potential of this investment and partnership to enhance our vision to unlock potential in Mozambique,” said Cunningham.

A statement by Philafrica said that it planned to invest R1 billion to R1,5 billion in food categories across Africa over the next 18 to 24 months.

Philafrica’s CEO, Roland Decorvet, said that currently 60% to 70% of Mozambique’s poultry consumption needs had to be imported due to a lack of local production.

“We see immense potential to replace imported [poultry] products with local production and are pleased to have found a strong operating partner in Mozambique with [nearly two] decades of experience in the poultry value chain,” he said.

Decorvet added, “Moreover, our expertise in rendering, feed mixing and poultry will drive substantial synergies as [Novos Horizontes] expands in Mozambique.”

Information on Novos Horizontes’ website revealed that in 2016, the company sourced and processed 3 321t of frozen chicken, hatched and supplied 6,3 million day-old broiler chicks, and manufactured 19 995t of poultry feed.

The international team comprises scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, Pennsylvania State University in the US, the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture in Colombia, the International Potato Centre in Peru, and Bioversity International, headquartered in Italy.

The grant forms part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Platform for Big Data Agriculture ‘Inspire Challenges’ programme.

It was presented at the Big Data in Agriculture Convention held recently in Colombia.

According to IITA’s James Legg, one of the leaders of the project, the team generated more than 200 000 images of diseased cassava crops in coastal Tanzania and farms in western Kenya, in order to develop an artificial intelligence algorithm that can automatically classify five cassava diseases.

The app is being field-tested in Tanzania.

The team is also developing a mobile spectrophotometer that diagnoses different viral diseases, even in healthy looking plants.

“Smallholders or extension officers will be able to download the app for free, fire it up, point it at a leaf with disease symptoms, and get an instant diagnosis,” Legg said.

In addition to providing disease identification, the app will supply users with the latest management advice and pinpoint the location of the nearest agricultural extension support should a user need more assistance.

In addition, information gathered through the app will be used to send SMS alerts to farmers about potential disease and pest threats in their areas.

The team is keen to expand their work across numerous sites in Africa and a number of crops that are critical for food security, according to David Hughes, associate professor at Pennsylvania State University, who leads the project with Leggs.

By doing this, Hughes believes that the team can amplify the impact of their work a hundred times.

The measures include the subsidising wheat production through a special fund, based on production levels, and opening a commercial bank to give farmers access to loans at low interest rates.

Funding for the subsidy will come from a 2% levy on all exports, while the bank will be funded with a 10% levy paid on imported wheat. A scheme will also be introduced, either through national cereal boards or commodities exchange to:

• Guarantee markets and prices for locally produced wheat;
• Initiate research to determine appropriate wheat varieties to be grown;
• Determine quality preferences of millers;
• Develop production practices that will help boost production efficiencies and profitability, thereby attracting more investments for wheat production.

According a USDA grain report released earlier this year, Kenya had produced between 380 000t and 450 000t of wheat per year over the past three years. Total consumption had, however, increased from 1,95 million tons to 2,06 million tons per year due to changing dietary preferences. The area under production, however, remained static at approximately 170 00 ha.

In Tanzania, the area under production and yields had remained relatively stable over the past three years at about 100 00 ha and 100 000t/year. However, total consumption in that country increased from 990 000t to 1,95 million tons over the same period.

According to the USDA report, less than 1% of farmers grow wheat in Tanzania and 32% of this wheat is exported, while 91% of the wheat consumed is imported.

One of the objectives of the new initiative is to encourage millers to source wheat locally before importing supplies from beyond the region, to which milling companies in the two countries agreed at the meeting.

Progress on the implementation of these measures will be reviewed at a meeting in Mombasa, Kenya scheduled for November.