Rwanda: Feed the Future Tworore Inkoko, Twunguke

OVERVIEW

Feed the Future Tworore Inkoko, Twunguke (or Let’s Raise Chickens, and Make a Profit in Kinyarwanda) is a partnership between  The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) and Zamura Feeds, Ltd. (Rwanda), with support from USAID/Rwanda and the African Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) Foundation, to provide expertise, training, and resources for smallholder broiler chicken production. With the ultimate outcome being improvements in both household income and nutrition for participants, the activity seeks to improve the livelihood of farmers living in Musanze District, Rwanda. Through Tworore Inkoko, 750 men and women will have the training and a support package to successfully produce broiler chickens. At the end of each grow-out cycle, farmers have a guaranteed market to sell their birds, as well as the option to consume some of their chickens, adding protein to the household diet. This activity began in January 2017 and runs through the end of September 2020. The activity began with a pilot group of 30 farmers (July 2017) to fine-tune farmer selection, farmer training, and technical capacity. From there, cohorts of 24-40 farmers are being invited, trained, and entered into the program. By 2020, this scalable model will provide the training capacity and financial independence for a sustainable smallholder broiler model in northern Rwanda.  

WHY CHICKENS?

From a nutrition standpoint, chicken meat is a source of complete protein and other essential macro and micronutrients. Broiler chickens are relatively efficient at converting feed to meat, with a feed conversion ratio of almost 2:1 when using high quality feed now available in Rwanda.   Broilers fed and cared for properly are market-ready in seven to eight weeks, providing each participant a harvest opportunity roughly every 10 weeks, allowing time for necessary biosecurity measures.