The Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association (ZFRPA) is inviting interested and capable free-range poultry farmers to register for the contract buying program.

The arrangement involves the Association purchasing roadrunner day-old chicks from registered farmers at an agreed price on a weekly basis.



In a notice to the public released yesterday, the Association advised plans are underway to set up a scheme for the purchase of 90,000 free-range day-old chicks per week from contracted producers or hatchery units from across the country. The preferred breeds are Boschveld, Koekoek, and Black Australorps.

“All interested farmers or producers and hatchery units are free to submit how many day-old chicks they are able to produce on a weekly basis. All you have to do is to register with ZFRPA office stating how many you can supply, what breed, and your location,” read part of the Notice.



My Personal Take:

  • This is a noble initiative by the Association to support producers of day-old chicks with a ready market. Farmers for a long time have been having challenges with access to markets.
  • The success of this initiative will ensure a ready supply of roadrunner chicks to feed into the value chain. Ultimately, roadrunner meat will start featuring in retail shops, and export opportunities will also be pursued.
  • Association needs to come up with a comprehensive logistics framework to ensure consistent deliveries and cater for farmers in rural areas.
  • The purchase price or offer needs to be attractive to farmers to ensure high uptake. If the price to be offered by the Association does not make business sense, the noble initiative will die a natural death.
  • To ensure quality roadrunner chicks are produced, there is need for the Association to provide farmers with a comprehensive quality control framework.

To download ZFRPA Public Notice, click here.

For registration and more details, contact ZFRPA National Office on +263784335019 / +263779600730 / +263775053769.

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