Local Production of Quality Affordable Poultry Feed

Cutting Costs, Boosting Nutrition

This practice involves blending various ingredients to create a balanced feed ration for chickens, optimizing their growth and production. The basic formulation includes maize or wheat, soybeans, bran, oil press cake, fish and bone meal, poultry supplement, limestone, and salt. The feeds are further processed into mash for chicks or pelleted for larger birds.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

9•9

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 9/9

Project adoption2

Technology integrated in the ENSURE, and PADDAMAG projects.

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ENSURE Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	Kenya Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda Tanzania	Direct: 3,000,000	13.14 million 2024–2027	149,940 farmers trained 9,996 Training 2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected 350 agent trained
PADDAMAG Project to Support Agropastoral Development, Digitization and Market Access	Guinea	Direct: 5,735 Indirect: 401,450	32.85 million 2023–2029	4,000 ha land prepared 100 km of rural roads rehabilitated 12 processing facilities built 3 collection markets & 2 wholesale markets established

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ENSURE
Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension

Kenya
Rwanda
Burundi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Sudan
Uganda
Tanzania

Direct: 3,000,000

13.14 million

2024–2027

149,940 farmers trained
9,996 Training
2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected
350 agent trained

PADDAMAG
Project to Support Agropastoral Development, Digitization and Market Access

Guinea

Direct: 5,735
Indirect: 401,450

32.85 million

2023–2029

4,000 ha land prepared
100 km of rural roads rehabilitated
12 processing facilities built
3 collection markets & 2 wholesale markets established

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive high

Women: Positive medium

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Same amount of carbon released

Environmental health: Does not improve environmental health

Water use: Same amount of water used

Problem

Limited access to affordable feed: High feed costs reduce the ability of poultry producers to maintain and expand their activities.
Dependence on purchased feed: Expensive commercial feed reduces the economic benefits of poultry activities for producers and rural households.
Limited use of local feed resources: Available local materials and by-products are not fully used to improve access to affordable poultry feed.
Limited local feed production capacity: Existing knowledge about local feed materials is not sufficiently scaled across poultry production systems.

Solution

Affordable local feed: Support producers in using locally available materials to produce lower-cost poultry feed.
Reduced dependence on purchased feed: Promote local feed production to reduce reliance on expensive commercial feed.
Better use of local resources: Support the use of local grains, crop by-products, leaves and insects as feed resources.
Scaling local knowledge: Strengthen the use of proven feed production practices, including sprouted grains and maggot production.

Key points to design your program

This technology promotes the local production of scientifically balanced and affordable poultry feed using locally available ingredients and alternative feed resources. It can be integrated into poultry value chain development, food security, livestock commercialization, import substitution, youth and women entrepreneurship, and rural livelihood programmes. By reducing dependence on expensive imported feed ingredients, improving feed quality, and strengthening local feed manufacturing, the technology lowers production costs, increases poultry productivity, and strengthens the resilience of local feed supply systems. It supports SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), while creating business opportunities for women, youth, local feed processors, and poultry enterprises.

To successfully integrate this technology, consider the following key actions:

Identify poultry production areas where high feed costs, poor feed quality, and dependence on imported ingredients constrain poultry productivity and enterprise development.
Establish partnerships with ILRI, ProPAS, national livestock research institutions, extension services, feed manufacturers, producer organizations, financial institutions, and private-sector actors to support feed formulation, quality assurance, and enterprise development.
Assess the seasonal availability of locally produced feed ingredients, processing capacity, market demand, quality assurance systems, and investment requirements for local feed manufacturing enterprises.
Strengthen technical capacity by training feed processors, poultry farmers, cooperatives, entrepreneurs, and extension agents on feed formulation, ingredient selection, quality control, feed processing, safe manufacturing practices, storage, and business management.
Promote local feed production systems by facilitating access to processing equipment, formulation tools, quality assurance systems, and alternative feed ingredients such as processed cassava peels and other locally available feed resources that reduce production costs while maintaining feed quality.
Support local feed enterprises, business incubation initiatives, producer organizations, market linkages, and advisory services to strengthen sustainable feed supply chains and encourage private-sector investment.
Monitor programme performance through indicators such as feed production volumes, feed quality, production costs, poultry productivity, enterprise profitability, technology adoption, and the participation of women and youth.

100—200 kg

feed production per hour

5 years

life span

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 9 out of 9

Common use by intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ENSURE Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	Kenya Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda Tanzania	Direct: 3,000,000	13.14 million 2024–2027	149,940 farmers trained 9,996 Training 2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected 350 agent trained
PADDAMAG Project to Support Agropastoral Development, Digitization and Market Access	Guinea	Direct: 5,735 Indirect: 401,450	32.85 million 2023–2029	4,000 ha land prepared 100 km of rural roads rehabilitated 12 processing facilities built 3 collection markets & 2 wholesale markets established

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ENSURE
Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension

Kenya
Rwanda
Burundi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Sudan
Uganda
Tanzania

Direct: 3,000,000

13.14 million

2024–2027

149,940 farmers trained
9,996 Training
2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected
350 agent trained

PADDAMAG
Project to Support Agropastoral Development, Digitization and Market Access

Guinea

Direct: 5,735
Indirect: 401,450

32.85 million

2023–2029

4,000 ha land prepared
100 km of rural roads rehabilitated
12 processing facilities built
3 collection markets & 2 wholesale markets established

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Benin	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Botswana	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Burundi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Central African Republic	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Côte d’Ivoire	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Democratic Republic of the Congo	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Gabon	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Ghana	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Guinea	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Madagascar	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Rwanda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sierra Leone	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Somalia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
South Sudan	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zimbabwe	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Gather Necessary Materials and Ingredients: Collect locally available and seasonal materials like maize or wheat, soybeans, bran, oil press cake, fish and bone meal, poultry supplement, limestone, and salt.
Determine Proportions for Formulation: Calculate the appropriate proportions of each ingredient based on the recommended formulation. For example, a basic blend may consist of 50% maize or wheat, 21% soybeans, 14% bran, and so on.
Blend the Ingredients: Mix the collected ingredients thoroughly to ensure a balanced ration. This can be done using appropriate equipment like mixers.
Process the Feed: Depending on the type of birds being fed, process the blended feed into mash for chicks or pelleted form for larger birds. This can be achieved using suitable processing equipment.
Monitor Growth and Production: Regularly observe and track the growth and production of the birds. Adjust the feed composition if needed to optimize results.
Consider Supplementary Feeding Methods: In addition to the formulated feed, consider supplementary feeding methods like kitchen wastes, free-range practices, and provision of green leaves and insects to further enhance nutrition.
Ensure Proper Storage: Store both the ingredients and the formulated feed in a dry, cool place to prevent contamination and spoilage.
Monitor Costs and Benefits: Keep track of the costs associated with feed production and compare it with the benefits in terms of improved productivity and profitability.