Established in 2018 and now with four full-time and 15 part-time employees, Umodzi Poultry is a social enterprise involved in the rearing and selling of quail in Kasungu District in central Malawi. The business was born out of the desire and belief in the power of providing poor people with economic opportunities through supporting them to be more productive so that they are self-reliant and able to provide for their own needs and the needs of their community. As a commercial entity, the company intends to expand its quail production from 2,000 to 22,000 birds per month to meet the growing demand from hotels, supermarkets, restaurants and bars. The expansion will entail increasing its own production by 45% and engaging 1,000 smallholder farmers in its supply chain to cater for extra production. These farmers will contribute to meeting 55% of the demand. Establishing an outgrower scheme will ensure that Umodzi has sufficient volume to meet demand and consistently supply its market. To achieve efficiency in feed making, storage and distribution of quail products, the company plans to secure external finance to purchase a feed making machine (6 MT/day), deep freezer and mobile refrigerated van and to construct warehousing facilities. The current and planned expanded installations and operations will all be anchored around already installed solar power supply, as being shown in the photo by Managing Director Matthews. Contact: Umodzi Poultry LinkedIn

Utilizing Renewable Energy, Facilitating Increased Quail Productivity and Incomes among Smallholders

Through this nine-month project, CASA intends to facilitate investment amounting to £61,000 into Umodzi Poultry, and provide technical support to the company towards mobilisation and capacitating of 1,000 farmers to be contracted into Umodzi’s supply chain. Through this support, the company intends to provide start-up inputs and production skills to contracted farmers to improve their productivity and profitability leading to increased household incomes. The business model for Umodzi Poultry aims to engage smallholder farmers in its quail supply chain to increase supply volumes and meet the demand for quail on the market. Umodzi Poultry will support smallholder production, aggregate, and off-take the grown birds to increase its supply volumes, after adding value for premium prices through processing. The model aims to build resilience among women and youth by integrating them into a viable commercial enterprise with a readily available market. CASA’s support worth £44,378 includes £38,370 for technical assistance and a grant of £3,508.

Umodzi seeks commercial finance in the form of £61,000 in equity to invest in the procurement and installation of feed milling, warehousing, and cold chain facilities to support its developing contract farming model involving 1,000 outgrower farmers. The model itself seeks to enhance the supply volumes for the company that will allow them to exploit an existing opportunity for growth through the supply of quail to the growing underserved market.  These investments will take the company through a healthy growth trajectory, and afford the contracted smallholder farmers a net additional income of about £118 per farmer per year.