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This week we profile Nhema Chickens, an indigenous poultry business that specializes in breeding and supplying day old road runner chicks, chickens for meat and eggs.
Nhema Chickens is the brainchild of Nomore Nhema, a young farmer. It was formed in 2017. Their focus is on chicken breeding, fertilised eggs, meat production, point of lay chickens, table eggs and hatching services.
The company is reported to have started off with just 70 Boshveld chickens and used to buy about 3 cocks a month to increase their stock. Down the line, Nhema Chickens decided to value add their business by hatching eggs to produce day old chicks. In order to do this, they acquired a 1 056 capacity incubator. As the business grew, they got another incubator with 2 000 capacity and this was followed by a much bigger 10 000 capacity incubator.
Currently, Nhema Chickens operates from two premises, a plot in Mushandike Irrigation Scheme (Masvingo) and Waterfalls in Harare. They now have 7 breeds of chickens which include Boshvelds, Light Sussex, Koekoek, Black Austrolope and others. A new 5 000 incubator was recently installed in Waterfalls. The business is now fully registered and employs 8 people. According to their website, Nhema Chickens pride themselves in producing lean and natural chickens which are a favourite for those who are health conscious. They do not add any supplements to their feed.
Their customers include more than 4 Non Governmental Organisations who buy thousands of chicks once off. Individual customers are also welcome to buy from the company. Nhema Chickens accepts all payments methods including Ecocash and bank transfers.
Companies like Nhema Chickens which started from humble beginnings are a motivation to many current and potential start-ups. With proper support, Nhema Chickens and others have the potential to grow and become national, continental, even global powerhouses in their industry.