Processing chicken meat for cold storage

Preserving Quality, Expanding Opportunity: Value Addition for Poultry

The “Processing chicken meat for cold storage” technology is a systematic approach to poultry processing. It involves the use of mechanized equipment for secondary processing of raw chicken into value-added products, such as cleaned, pre-cut, and preserved chicken meat. This technology also incorporates cold storage facilities, which allow for long-term storage and long-distance transport of the processed poultry products. Designed to be accessible to small and medium enterprises, farmers can form cooperatives to raise sufficient capital and volumes for the processing plant.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 7/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive medium

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Moderately adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Limited value addition: Reliance on live-bird sales limits opportunities for producers and small and medium enterprises to capture greater value from poultry production.
Processing and cold-chain gaps: Limited access to adequate technology, processing skills and cold-storage facilities constrains preservation, distribution and market access.
Food safety gaps: On-site slaughter and inadequate processing and preservation practices increase hygiene and public health risks.
Market-system constraints: Poorly organized marketing systems and limited product diversification restrict opportunities to respond to growing demand for processed chicken products.

Solution

Increased value addition: Processing enables producers and small and medium enterprises to transform whole chickens into a wider range of value-added poultry products.
Strengthened processing and cold-chain capacity: Mechanized equipment, packaging, refrigeration and cold storage strengthen capacity for processing, preservation and distribution.
Improved food safety: Standardized processing, hygienic packaging and rapid chilling support safer poultry products and improved quality control.
Expanded market opportunities: Diversified processed products and longer storage enable poultry value-chain actors to serve a broader range of consumer and institutional markets.

Key points to design your program

Processing Chicken Meat for Cold Storage improves food safety, product quality, and market access by enabling the processing, preservation, and storage of poultry products. The technology can be integrated into poultry value chain development, agribusiness, food security, women’s economic empowerment, and youth employment programs. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess poultry production levels, processing gaps, cold storage needs, and market demand in target areas.
Facilitate access to mechanized poultry processing equipment and cold storage facilities adapted to small and medium-scale enterprises.
Support training for processors, cooperatives, women’s groups, and youth enterprises on meat processing, food safety, hygiene, packaging, cold chain management, and equipment maintenance.
Invest in processing facilities, refrigeration systems, packaging equipment, transport systems, and energy solutions to improve product quality and storage capacity.
Promote the production of value-added poultry products such as pre-cut, marinated, smoked, fried, and ready-to-cook chicken products.
Support the participation of women and youth in poultry processing and cold chain businesses to create employment and business opportunities.
Establish partnerships with ILRI, poultry cooperatives, veterinary services, processors, cold chain providers, and private sector actors to support scaling and sustainability.
Track key indicators such as post-slaughter losses, processed poultry volumes, food safety compliance, jobs created, market access, and income growth.

15,600 USD

basic processing plant with defeathering, cutting and storage lines for 500 chicken per day

IP

Unknown

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 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 7 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

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

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 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

Poultry Farming: Start with poultry farming to ensure a steady supply of chickens for processing.
Secondary Processing: Use mechanized equipment such as small electric slicers, deboning machines, and grinders to transform whole raw chicken into value-added products. This includes cleaning, pre-cutting, and preserving the chicken meat.
Hygiene and Quality Control: Maintain strict hygiene and quality norms during the processing of poultry products to promote marketing and consumption patterns.
Cold Storage: Rapidly cool the processed poultry products to 4°C within two hours after slaughter. This can be achieved through different combinations of forced air, water immersion, spray, or vacuum chilling.
Packaging: Package the processed poultry products for storage, transport, and marketing. This can be done using wrapped trays or airtight packages, each serving different markets. Chamber-style vacuum sealers can be used for strict portion control, long shelf-life, and high food hygiene.
Commercialization: Finally, market and sell the processed poultry products to consumers.