Beyond the poultry producers discussed in the last blog, there are many different actors in the wider value web. This blog explores the wider ‘hidden middle’ at the centre of the growing small and medium-scale poultry industry in Zimbabwe. With the switch away from beef as the main source of meat, poultry products are in high demand, and this has driven a growth of production. Yet there are many who also involved in supporting this huge, but largely hidden, industry, which connects rural and urban areas.
This blog explores those engaged in diverse markets, in feed supply, in input provision, in transport, in equipment manufacture and in finance. The network spreading from a single poultry production operation of say 1000 birds can be large, generating significant income and employment. In formal assessments of the ‘poultry industry’, which still remains focused on large-scale commercial operations, this diverse and complex value web remains hidden. Here’s a web map from Wondedzo, near Masvingo.
This article is from Zimbabweland, a blog written by IDS research fellow Ian Scoones. Zimbabweland focuses on issues related to rural livelihoods and land reform in Zimbabwe.
