Licensing coming to Poultry farms

To ensure good farming practice and regulate the growth of the poultry industry, the government may implement a license for poultry farms. The license to produce chickens  consists of several rules and regulations regarding distance to other farms, infrastructure, water supply, electrical power, management, knowledge and, biosecurity measures.
The new strategic plan which is under consideration by the government and being studied by Ethiopia Netherland Trade for Agricultural Growth (ENTAG)  would  identify and register  farms and flocks .
To promote quality products the strategic plan aims to clearly register the production types (layers, broilers, reproduction) concerning the facility, hygiene management and registration.
To upgrade the veterinary services the strategic plan also targets establishing a poultry health expertise center.
Currently around five large scale and over a hundred medium poultry farms are operating in  Deberzeith which has suitable temperature for chicken but poor awareness, disease, and poor infrastructure a challenging the business
Dr. Demeke Wondemagne president of the Ethiopian Poultry Producers Association (EPPA) told Capital that the strategy will help the country do a better job in the poultry sector.
“We can’t bring big change with the traditional system. We must update our farms with better technology , animal feed, veterinary service, a market and good coordination of  stakeholders and I hope the strategy will help us to address these challenges.’’
According to a 2013 Central Statistical Agency report, Ethiopia has about 50.38 million cockerels, pullets, laying hens, non-laying hens and chickens.
Ethiopia is the 14th most populous country in the world. However, according the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it produced only 60,000 tons of poultry meat in 2012. Annual per capita poultry meat consumption stands at only 0.6 kg, while annual per capita egg consumption is 0.40 kg.
From the total 60 million chickens only 18 million hatch eggs, almost all, 94 percent of Ethiopia’s poultry are raised traditionally and last year 1.4 billion eggs were produced.