Nutropia Chicken Farm in Ethiopia aims to address malnutrition, under-nutrition and low protein intake by producing 24,000 tons of chicken meat per year.

June 22, 2018

3 Min Read
Agrotop to build one of largest poultry farms in Africa/Middle East
Credit: buhanovskiy/iStock/Thinkstock.

Agrotop, a global player in livestock turnkey projects, has signed a contract to develop a large-scale poultry integration project with Nutropia Poultry & Feed in Ethiopia.

Agrotop will design, build and equip the project and then provide know-how transfer and management services to Nutropia, according to the announcement. With headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the new farm will eventually produce 24,000 tons of chicken meat per year.

Nutropia plans to start with an initial investment capital of 20 million euros, Agrotop said. The first stage, which is expected to start by the end of 2018, will consist of a hatchery, broiler farms and slaughterhouse capable of providing 4,700 tons of poultry meat annually.

The vertically integrated broiler and poultry feed farms will provide chicken meat at affordable prices to the domestic Ethiopian market and to the East African and Middle Eastern markets, the announcement said.

Once completed, the Nutropia project will include a parent stock rearing farm, a parent stock production farm, six broiler farms, a hatchery, a slaughterhouse and a poultry feed mill.

Agrotop will provide the latest technology to develop a project that is both economically efficient and environmentally sustainable, the company said. The strictest biosecurity standards will be adopted to safeguard bird and public health. Agrotop will also provide experienced managers who will work alongside and train the local management to ensure good results from day 1. The locally trained management will be the core that the future expansion will be built around.

"One of the main reasons for malnutrition in Ethiopia is the unavailability of cheap animal protein. Currently, only 12% of the country's protein intake comes from animals," Nutropia co-founder Fasika Eyassu explained. "Nutropia is entering the market with the aim of closing this gap. We aim to restore dignity of mankind by ending hunger and malnutrition. We believe that great businesses tackle great problems."

Ethiopia's annual average chicken meat consumption is only 0.5 kg per person per year, compared to 2.3 kg per person in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and 41 kg per person in Peru, Agrotop said. With a population of more than 100 million people, Nutropia is well positioned to meet the growing need for cheap and accessible protein.

"After we conducted comprehensive research, we assigned Agrotop to lead the process of building the new farm," Fasika said. "We visited the Chirina project constructed by Agrotop in (the Republic of) Georgia, and this is exactly what we had in mind."

Agrotop chief marketing officer and founding partner Gavriel Pelleg said, "The fact that Nutropia chose Agrotop to lead such an ambitious project illustrates our leading position in the field of poultry turnkey projects. We believe this project has sound business rationale and will make a real contribution to ensuring food security in Ethiopia."

Israel-based Agrotop provides a full range of services for realizing livestock and agro-industry construction projects while focusing on its clients' visions and maximizing their business results.

Nutropia is a poultry and feed company under establishment in Ethiopia with the goal of becoming one of the top 10 poultry and feed companies in Africa and the Middle East within 10 years.

Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Feedstuffs is the news source for animal agriculture

You May Also Like