Wu Chunhua explains the drawing of chicken houses on February 27, 2020 (COURTESY PHOTO) 

Andrew Chirenda is a farmer in Zvimba District, Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe. The 180 free-range chickens which he has raised for 200 days have brought him an income of $800. While this has brought immense joy to Chirenda himself, it's also good news for the whole area including the free-range chicken breeding demonstration project guided by Chinese experts. 

For Chinese poultry farmers, hatching and rearing poultry is not a problem; but for the vast majority of small and medium-sized farm owners in Zimbabwe, they lack professional equipment and scientific management techniques. It is not easy to improve the success rate of poultry hatching and rearing.

Wu Chunhua decided to change this situation.

Wu is a senior poultry farming expert. With his profound knowledge and practical experience in animal husbandry, including his working experience in Zimbabwe since 2018, Wu and his colleagues carry out assistance mission and contribute to improving the level of agricultural development in Zimbabwe.

Investigation and research 

On January 28, 2019, the expert team went to the Henderson Research Institute under the Department of Research and Specialist Services of Zimbabwe to assist their local counterparts to start poultry hatching project. At the institute, Wu saw two hatchers provided by previous Chinese teams, but no matching incubators.

"At that time, I realized that when the Zimbabwean side was distributing the poultry hatching equipment, they might have split the incubator from the hatcher that needed to be used as a pair. One unit received two hatchers without incubators, and the other unit might have received two incubators without hatchers. Now, neither unit can use the equipment properly," Wu said.

Two days later, Wu saw two incubators that matched Henderson's hatchers during a research trip to Chibero Agricultural College, where a poultry hatching laboratory course was offered for local agricultural technicians.

"I explained to both units that they needed to switch one incubator and one hatcher to bring the equipment sets back into place," he said.

Upon further investigation, Wu found that neither Henderson nor Chibero had piped running water. If the incubators and hatchers were not supplied with running water, the equipment could not be used. After thorough research and demonstration, Wu personally designed a model of storage water supply and hydration system, which alleviated the water supply crisis to a certain extent and ensured the normal use of the equipment.

Then came the problem of power supply. In May 2019, Zimbabwe suffered an electricity crisis. Wu recalled that during that time, Zimbabwe pulled the power supply for 10 hours a day, and in some places even for 18 hours.

"The equipment is fully automatic and computer-controlled, and it cannot be operated without power supply," Wu said. Given that both Henderson and Chibero are located in the middle of nowhere, their power supply is erratic even when the overall power supply is relatively stable. This may be another reason why the incubation facility had not been enabled.

Because of this, Wu thought about upgrading the hatching facilities to suit the realities of Zimbabwe.

On November 25, 2019, the China and Zimbabwe Agricultural Cooperation Demonstration Village Project was launched in Murombedzi Town, Zvimba District. "It was a rare opportunity for the implementation of the incubator construction project," Wu said. He decided to put it into practice.

Wu Chunhua at a chick co-breeding demonstration project on December 20, 2020 (COURTESY PHOTO) 

Demonstration based on local conditions 

Wu launched the project of selecting and breeding free-range chickens in Chirimanyemba Village, with a total investment of $14,000, and participation of 14 farmers from the village, including Chirenda.

"The demonstration must be tailored to local conditions. It is not enough just to be enthusiastic, but also to be open-minded in order to solve complicated problems. More importantly, we should be physically active to gain the trust of the Zimbabwean friends," Wu said.

"The demonstration can provide a reference for the selection and breeding of local chicken breeds in Zimbabwe," he said, adding that once the project is successful, it will benefit the largest number of people in Zimbabwe.

At the same time, Wu also carried out demonstration projects for poultry hatching center construction. On July 28, 2020, the construction of the poultry hatching center with an annual output of 100,000 chicks was officially launched.

"We helped the incubation center purchase solar batteries and installed 12 solar panels and eight batteries, which currently generate 20 kwh per day and daily store 16 kwh. Also in the long term, we helped them install a diesel engine and a quick conversion power supply system with three kinds of power sources: solar, generator and municipal power supply," Wu said.

"The first set of hatching equipment was demonstrated on November 28, 2020, and the hatching capacity reached 50,000 eggs per year. After another set of the equipment is upgraded, the hatching capacity will double," Wu noted.

After the hatching equipment is supplied with water and electricity, how to ensure the survival rate of a large number of chicks that are hatched became an important question Wu needed to think about.

He decided to carry out a demonstration project of chick co-breeding. He upgraded an old chicken house to a brooder room, built a hot air oven and mesh beds, and equipped it with hatching equipment.

"The co-breeding mortality rate is less than 5 percent, which means the program is very successful." Wu said it will inject new impetus to the poverty reduction and increase local farmers' income.

"Wu is very creative, and he uses his intelligence to help our poverty alleviation work. We thank him from the bottom of our hearts!" Chirenda said.

Knowledge transfer 

In Wu's eyes, upgrading local farmers' knowhow and teaching them hatching and breeding techniques can play an important role in raising their income and improving poultry farming in the country. Therefore, at the early stage of his work in Zimbabwe, he was clear about the importance of transferring related technologies.

"While teaching the basic breeding technologies, I put my focus on how to raise chickens profitably and the mature practices of chicken raising in China. In the classroom, I always encourage my trainees to give full play to their own knowledge," Wu said.

In three years, Wu personally conducted four training sessions, training a total of 318 people, including farmers, agricultural technicians, and students from agricultural colleges. Meanwhile, in order to improve the effect of technical training and expand the influence, he also worked with other Chinese agricultural experts and the official institutions of Zimbabwe, and launched cooperation with eight agricultural colleges in Zimbabwe to organize a large-scale agricultural technical training tour.

Wu and his colleagues have totally held 55 sessions of training, with more than 15,000 copies of relevant teaching materials compiled and distributed, and a total of 3,267 agricultural technicians, farmers and university students trained.

"As a member of the Communist Party of China, I am well aware of the importance of my work in Zimbabwe. I want to use this opportunity to help the people of Zimbabwe increase income and reduce poverty, and contribute to the building of a China-Africa community with a shared future," Wu noted.

(Print Edition Title: Incubating Hope) 

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