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A new initiative by the government of Angola aims to increase domestic chicken production, as well as to provide new employment opportunities.
The first phase of the project that aims to increase output by seven million chickens per year was inaugurated last month, reported Angola Press.
Under the scheme, the Ministry of National Defense has made available a budget of US$50 million to support former and veteran soldiers. As well as benefiting the Angolan Armed Forces, the initiative aims to increase national poultry meat production, create additional jobs, and reduce the nation’s dependence on imported chicken.
Across the two northern provinces of Malanje and Cuanza Norte, a total of 140 batches of birds, each of 5,000 chicks, will be distributed to participants in the scheme. The birds will be processed in a slaughterhouse in the Malanje community of Quizenga. Its operating capacity is reported at 15,000 birds in each 36-day cycle.
Further evolution of the initiative includes 120 more batches of chicks rolled out over the coming months.
When complete, the initiative is expected to create direct and indirect employment for 2,800 people.
Furthermore, there is a potential annual saving of US$300 million on imported chicken, according to initiative partner and executive director of Jampur Group, Muhammad Shafiq.
Welcoming the project’s inauguration, the same source reports that Malanje’s provincial governor highlighted the potential benefits to his region and the whole country by raising chicken production.
Forecast expansion in domestic chicken production
The Angolan poultry industry continues to face a number of challenges to its further development, according to an assessment by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) published last month.
Among the largest hurdles it identifies are shortages of poultry feed, medications and general infrastructure in Angola, and a ban on the use of genetically modified (GM) feed ingredients.
Despite these restrictions, FAS expects chicken production to be 52,000 metric tons (mt) in 2024. That would equate to an 8% increase over 2023.
However, the volume consumed for the current year is forecast to drop by 6,000mt to 262,000mt, according to FAS. This is explained by the recent weakness of the national currency, and inflation in Angola still running ahead of the population’s income.
FAS expects these financial difficulties to reduce imports of chicken in 2024 to 210,000mt, which would be 4% less than in the previous year.
In 2022, chicken production in Angola amounted to a little more than 58,500mt, according to the statistics arm of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOstat.
The World Bank puts the country’s population at just over 33 million in the same year.
According to the company’s web site, Jampur Group, which is ia partner in the Angolan government initiative is based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. It has a wide range of business interests, including aviation, shipping, power, and mining in Africa, Asia, and Europe through local offices and associates.
Among its operations in Agriculture, the Group lists the construction and operation of poultry slaughterhouses as part of an efficient and sustainable poultry chain model. In Africa, it has identified a growing demand — currently not met — for locally produced chicken.