"Broilers are a type of chicken breed for meat production; they grow very fast and attain market weight in under two months if fed on feed ration that support their genetic requirements," Mr Serwanga Robert of Agrarian Systems stated. He took our members under the Poultry Sector Desk through the day 1 training, which took place on 21st March 2017, where members were introduced to broilers in terms of feed, housing, breed, how to ensure safety of broilers for profitability among others.

The Profitable Broiler Production training was one of the few trainings members chose as an event for the Poultry Sector Desk, this year 2017. It took place in Makerere, Kampala and attracted members from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda in attendance.

The event was successfully organized with the help of SD Leader Grace Mhina, AAA Director Mr. Karama Farid, Executive Assistant to the Director Patricia Kyosiimire and AAA Uganda Coordinator Logose Angella who enjoyed the experience of working with members from the different country chapters.

Members couldn’t have been more than excited to be trained under a consultant who has been in the poultry management business for the last seven years and acquired most of his training from the Netherlands, which is the leading source of poultry breeds and feeds for Uganda. He has managed poultry farms, trained farm workers and trained several interested in poultry farming with his farm expertise on poultry farming.

On 22 March 2017, day 2 of the Poultry event, members visited Ugachick Company where they learnt about broiler value addition. From Ugachick, members proceeded to Alfasan Factory owned by Dr. Steven Birungi (AAA Member). Alfasan Uganda is the leading manufacturer of veterinary pharmaceuticals and other animal health products for Farmers in Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and South Sudan. They are a technology-driven company that develops and manufactures medicines that improve health & nutrition. Participants were taken around the factory and shown various equipment used for medicine production starting from primary stage, up to the final stage as well as the different processing procedures.
During this event, there were so many lessons learnt, such as;

- Networking is a key issue for success in any business
- Internal controls minimize losses
- Quality Assurance is key issue in sustaining market
- Team building is crucial for employers at any one company.
- B2B visits enhance development
- Need to lay strategies, move along with them in order to profit from any business.
- Persistence is key to success & for broiler production; it’s not for the faint hearted.