Project 6: Regional Poultry Flagship Programme & Business Cases | Southern Africa

De-risking the Poultry Sector: Bankable Business Models for Africa’s Next Generation

The Challenge: The poultry sector across several Southern African nations represents a critical protein source but remains fragmented and heavily reliant on imports. Aspiring youth entrepreneurs face significant "locked" entry points due to systemic barriers, most notably high and volatile feed costs, severe disease risks in smallholder flocks, and a persistent lack of access to formal credit.

The Vuna Solution: Contributing to a flagship initiative led by ITEED and AGRA, Vuna supported a robust, data-driven "Sprint & Expansion" workflow to map regional bottlenecks. We moved beyond high-level theory to help design a portfolio of prioritized, bankable business cases that convert these barriers into investment opportunities. These archetype models focused on de-risking the value chain through youth-led mobile vaccination teams, decentralized feed milling to lower input costs, and small-scale processing units to unlock access to formal retail markets.

The Impact: The programme provides a strategic roadmap for a multi-country transformation focused on sustainable import substitution. Our financial modeling confirmed the long-term viability of these models, demonstrating how specialized service businesses can secure primary production. The strategy facilitates an integrated regional ecosystem where professional biosecurity nets and localized supply chains empower a new generation of agricultural entrepreneurs.