Two poultry projects have been established in Swaziland, both operating as
"satellite farms": the Khutsala farm, established in 1989, and, more
recently, the Shibani Project, started in 1993.
These projects are a cooperative undertaking between MASHAV - the Israel
Center for International Cooperation, USAID and the Government of
Swaziland. The project is coordinated by an Israeli expert, and built in
cooperation with field instructors from the Swazi Ministry of
Agriculture.
The projects are geared to provide training facilities and technology
transfer to farmers, both members of the cooperative and farm-owners
scattered in an area reaching a radius of about 40 kms around the
demonstration farm. In addition, an extra income is affored to those
farmers, as the produce from the farm supplies about 40% of the local need
for eggs.
These farms also serve as training centres for the sustainable running of
a cooperative and train a large number of farm-owners. The advantages of
poultry farming have proven to be numerous:
- A poultry house does not require a large area (non-fertile land can be
used for this purpose).
- Large quantities of water are not required, nor is the farm affected by
an eventual drought, as are crops.
- Investment is relatively small, as local material can be used for
building. According to local calculations, two seasons provide for a full
return on the investment.
- Broken or small eggs, which cannot be sold on the local market, can
supply additional food for the farmer's family.
- Other side-growings are available, using, for instance, chicken manure
as fertilizer or fish food.
The Khutsala Project
Established in 1988 as a "satellite farm", the Khutsala Project comprises
a central poultry farm with about 4,200 layers and 46 satellite farms,
each with an average of 400-500 layers.
The central farm supplies the
farmers with input and services, such as concentrated chicken feed,
vaccination of the fowl, packaging material and the sorting and grading of
eggs, as well as their packaging and marketing.
The Shibani Project
Due to the success of the first project, a similar one was created in the
northern part of Swaziland in a rural area approximately 20 km from the
town of Pigg's Peak. This project is likewise based on the satellite farm
model and was built as an agricultural cooperative, more or less on the
design of the Israeli moshav. The cooperative counts some 200 members, all
of them women.
The central farm keeps about 4000 layers and each of the 48 small holders
raise an average of 400 layers. This is an integrated project consisting
of poultry, two experimental fish ponds and an apiary.
The central farm was built on land donated by the local Chief. Building
started in May 1993, in cooperation with members of the cooperative, who
took part in the decision-making process. The poultry-house was erected
first, then the storehouse and the sorting centres, and finally the
administrative offices.
The centre was officially opened in February 1994 by the Minister of
Agriculture of Swaziland in the presence of over 1,000 guests.
The Shibani Project began in March 1994, with 17 family-farms and a total
of 1900 layers. Provided with proper instruction and with their own
capital, the farmers built poultry-houses. In May 1996, the project
already included some 70 such family-farms with over ten thousand layers.
Currently, more farmers are interested in joining the project.
In addition to the poultry projects, fish ponds and apiaries are developed
on the same central farm, making use of the forests in the region and of
the existing infrastructure. Two fish ponds have been dug near the
neighbouring Popnini River on an area of 600 sq metres. The fish are fed
with by-products from the poultry farms, and the ponds provide satisfactory
results, which are carefully recorded.