MAAG Farms
MAAG Farms is a livestock business owned by Managing Director Mathias Silumbu (photo) and his family. Operating in Blantyre and Neno, with plans to extend to Mwanza, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Zomba and Chikwawa, the business started in 2014 and was registered as a sole proprietorship in 2019, now with 14 employees (29% women) and a field officer who provides technical management support to the farm. MAAG Farms started out of a family background and passion for farming. From piggery to its current wide range of poultry species, MAAG Farms envisions further growth in poultry through aggregation from smallholders, value addition, and improved marketing and distribution. The farm boasts several livestock species that include layer chickens, local and Hyline chickens, ducks, guinea fowls, turkeys, pigs, and dairy cattle. Of these, pigs, cattle, layers, ducks, and local chickens are the largest in terms of income generation. Currently, the business does all the production and selling of the poultry products. Meanwhile, MAAG Farms is constructing a processing unit in readiness for rolling out the value addition aspect.
Diversified Poultry Production for Processing and Increased Incomes
The project demonstrated to MAAG Farms and other poultry SMEs how setting up an inclusive poultry supply can quickly and easily contribute to expansion of production volumes to meet growing demand and processing capacity needs while at the same time increasing sales and profits for the business and smallholder farmers.
Through this 9-month project (October 2024 – June 2025), CASA provided technical support to MAAG Farms to expand its production, processing, and marketing of diverse niche poultry products to target the urban market. This was done by supplementing MAAG Farms’ production through the development of a contract farming model with 521 pilot smallholder out-growers (including women and youth), organised in three clusters, who are currently involved in subsistence poultry production and are interested in migrating to commercial production. MAAG Farms has entered into contract farming agreements with the small-scale poultry producers which will include support in access to inputs, training the smallholders in poultry production, climate and environmental smart production techniques, feed production (including maggots), and purchasing, processing, and selling the poultry product. Beyond the pilot, MAAG Farm plans to expand its out-grower scheme to 1,000 smallholders. Of the total project cost of £63,075, £23,070 was contributed by MAAG Farms and £40,005 by CASA. MAAG Farms is looking for £50,500 in investment to acquire meat processing equipment consisting of a plucker, meat cutter, freezers, and refrigerated mobile van for transporting products. The investment is aimed at shifting the current production from live bird sales to value-added products that fetch higher prices.
Updated: July 2025