Africa’s poultry sector is under growing pressure as the cost of key feed ingredients such as yellow maize and soya continues to rise and fluctuate. For small and medium-sized poultry farmers, higher feed prices can quickly reduce already-tight profit margins and make expansion increasingly difficult.
But the feed challenge could also create new opportunities. Instead of viewing rising feed costs only as a threat to poultry production, Africa could use the situation to develop a stronger, youth-driven agricultural value chain connecting crop production, processing, finance, logistics and poultry farming.
Feed costs remain a major obstacle
Poultry farming is often seen as an accessible entry point for young entrepreneurs because chickens have relatively short production cycles and demand for affordable animal protein remains strong.
However, feed represents a significant share of poultry production costs. When maize and soya become more expensive, farmers have limited options for absorbing the additional costs. Some are forced to reduce production, while others postpone investment or abandon expansion plans altogether.
The impact extends beyond existing poultry farmers. High input costs can also discourage young people who are considering entering the sector.
Turning a challenge into an opportunity
Writing in Food For Mzansi on September 9, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (Sacau) CEO Ishmael Sunga argues that Africa should look at the feed crisis differently.
Rather than treating expensive feed simply as a constraint, he suggests that it could become a catalyst for youth employment and new agribusinesses.
The approach would require supportive public policy, patient financing and stronger partnerships between established commercial farmers and emerging young agricultural entrepreneurs.
One priority would be increasing local production of yellow maize and soya while improving the systems used to collect, store, process and distribute these commodities.
Greater investment in aggregation, grain storage, oilseed processing and feed mills could help strengthen the domestic feed supply chain and create new businesses along the way.
Opportunities beyond poultry farming
For young entrepreneurs, the opportunity does not necessarily begin or end with raising chickens.
Businesses could develop around maize and soya production, aggregation, grain storage, oilseed crushing and feed manufacturing. Other possibilities include alternative feed ingredients, laboratory and quality-testing services, transportation, bulk input purchasing and digital agricultural advisory services.
This could create several entry points for young people across the agricultural value chain rather than concentrating opportunities solely on poultry production.
Access to resources remains critical
Creating these opportunities, however, will require more than encouraging young people to enter agriculture.
Aspiring agripreneurs need access to land, machinery, irrigation, production inputs, finance, storage infrastructure, reliable buyers and technical support. Without these foundations, youth agricultural programmes may produce trained entrepreneurs who still lack the resources required to build profitable businesses.
Sunga’s proposed model places established commercial farmers at the centre of this equation.
Commercial producers already have access to machinery, irrigation, storage, technical knowledge, input suppliers and established relationships with financial institutions and markets. These resources could potentially be shared with organised groups of young farmers.
Under structured partnerships, commercial farmers could provide services such as mechanisation, production planning, input procurement, crop drying, storage, quality control and market access.
The arrangement could also create an additional revenue stream for established farmers while helping young producers overcome some of the barriers that typically prevent them from scaling.
Financing young agricultural businesses
Access to capital is another major challenge for young agripreneurs. Many have limited collateral, little credit history and insufficient production scale to secure favourable financing independently.
One proposed solution is for commercial farmers to play a larger role in financing arrangements. Larger producers could secure credit facilities and extend inputs, working capital and other services to organised youth producer groups.
For lenders, such structures could reduce risk when they are supported by production plans, insurance, off-take agreements and clear repayment mechanisms.
Warehouse receipt financing could also provide an alternative source of short-term capital. Grain stored in certified facilities can potentially be used as collateral, allowing farmers and aggregators to access funding without having to sell immediately after harvest when prices may be less favourable.
Policy support could unlock investment
Government policy would also have an important role to play.
Possible measures include tax incentives for qualifying youth-owned businesses involved in maize and soya production, aggregation, processing and feed manufacturing. Reducing the cost of selected agricultural inputs and equipment could further improve the business case for new entrants.
Access to concessional financing, seasonal loans, longer repayment periods and grace periods aligned with agricultural production cycles could also help young businesses manage cash-flow pressures.
Credit guarantees, insurance-linked lending and first-loss mechanisms may encourage financial institutions to lend to viable agricultural enterprises that lack traditional forms of collateral.
Protecting youth ownership
Partnership models must also include safeguards.
Young farmers should retain meaningful ownership of their businesses and should not become a source of low-cost labour for larger commercial operations. Contracts need to be transparent, payments should be timely, and deductions and service charges should be clearly understood.
Young producers should also have opportunities to build their own assets, establish credit records and eventually operate independently.
A wider youth agribusiness opportunity
Africa’s poultry-feed challenge therefore extends well beyond the poultry house.
A stronger domestic feed economy could create opportunities for young entrepreneurs across maize and soya production, aggregation, storage, processing, feed manufacturing, logistics, quality assurance and distribution.
With the right combination of finance, infrastructure, policy support and commercial partnerships, today’s feed crisis could become an opportunity to build a more integrated agricultural economy while creating new pathways for Africa’s young agripreneurs.