NCG is a private company legally registered in 2019 and now has seven full-time and seven part-time employees. NCG established a hatchery that has increased their potential production capacity from 25,000 day-old chicks (DOC) four years ago, when they started operations, to 115,000 DOC per month. NCG has a parent stock that is renewed every 18 months, providing eggs for hatching, and also supplies DOCs to farmers. The DOCs are sold across Rwanda, primarily in Kigali and Rubavu, which accounts for 50-70% of its business, while the rest are sold in neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. The partnership with CASA demonstrates to other businesses that the model of partnering with farmers is profitable and sustainable, highlighting the need to have modern slaughterhouses. Contact: ndahimanaelias44@gmail.com

Supporting Standardisation and Packaging of Portioned Chicken for the Local Market

The company’s vision is to provide quality standardised products to the domestic market. Establishing an outgrower and output contract farming model will ensure that NCG can supply well-packaged, standardised and certified chicken meat from birds sourced from smallholder outgrower farmers, and engage end markets such as hotels, restaurants and butcheries. This will ultimately allow them to compete against imported chicken meat. In this 12-month pilot that started in February 2024, NCG is working with 1,200 farmers grouped into six cooperatives (50% of them women in the first year), each of whom are projected to increase their annual incomes by £120. To compete against imported chicken meat and attract more clientele, NCG is standardising their production to use reusable, easily degradable, environmentally-friendly packaging materials to meet local market demand. The packaging will be in different portions to also allow those with low incomes to be able to afford and access nutritious food.

With a total project cost of £143,320, CASA’s contribution of £59,150 includes a grant of £27,480 to buy the slaughterhouse equipment and technical assistance worth £31,670 to support NCG in fiduciary capacity building, investment readiness, contract farming model and slaughterhouse, and processing/dressing. NCG seeks further debt investment to install a solar system and expand their parental stock.