Five Tanzanian poultry producers have expanded their farms from a few thousand birds in 2013 to more than 20,000 today in large part due to U.S. Grains Council (USGC) training programs that have taught producers how to address challenges with large-scale production, such as biosecurity and flock management.

“The more these farms grow, the more challenges they face,� said USGC Consultant in Tanzania Peter Makang’a. “I’ve been assisting some of the farmers technically on good management practices and have held some training programs with farm workers. These large producers also attend our USGC training programs, during which they learn more about the industry.�

USGC’s training programs for Tanzanian poultry producers are a building block toward helping local producers and farmers provide higher-quality products to consumers and, over the long term, help build demand for coarse grains used in feed rations.

“There has been significant growth in Tanzania and some larger feed companies have begun to enter our market,� Makang’a said. “This is beneficial to the poultry producers as they now have access to high-quality feeds, which perform much better than the feeds that were available in 2012/2013.�

In the spring of 2014, the Council launched the Tanzania Food For Progress (FFP) program to help local producers develop the poultry and feed industries in that country. The program is fully funded by a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Food for Progress grant.

Click here to learn more about the Council’s work in Tanzania.