ChickenBytes

For something so tiny, it seems there is almost nothing that the Black Soldier Fly cannot do! Philafeed is a Cape-Town-based company that assists small farmers to add feed production to their own value chain, bring down the cost of feed, convert waste into protein, generate fertiliser, and grow healthier chickens. https://www.philafeed.co.za/

Dineo Mahlatse gave up her city lifestyle as an accountant to go home and help her parents run their small chicken business.  Already she is busy transforming the family business with tech and disruptor innovation, and creating the dream for any family business - creating generational wealth. 

Against a background of rising unemployment and stagnant economic growth, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is about to get a new minister. In our podcast, economics professor Lawrence Edwards identifies some urgent priorities for the new minister.

This last week, ChickenFacts hosted its first-ever webinar.  The webinar was in response to a growing awareness that a network was needed to bring together all the small, medium and emerging entrepreneurs in the poultry value chain who were quietly transforming the industry.

The flagship AMIE Academy boot camp, which is halfway through its programme, has already delivered some insights which would be of interest to anyone involved in CSI projects. The podcast is also accompanied by a Closer Look that summarises the key points

Transformation in the poultry industry is bringing forward the disruptors - the entrepreneurs who are transforming the industry to benefit emerging farmers. One such disruptor is Flo Mosoane, with her agri-tech start-up EasyChicken. In our podcast, she explains how it works.

Carla Kote is a disruptor - not only has she facilitated a ground-breaking export deal to China worth R300 million a year, but she is shaking up the entire poultry value chain. Listen to what she has to say about the future of poultry exports from South Africa and her exciting predications about our export potential in particular.

The poultry industry in South Africa is in dire need of transformation, but according to the African Poultry Producer's (APP) Kobedi Pilane, the industry has adopted a top-down approach that is simply perpetuating inequality. Kobedi is always interesting, engaging and direct, and he says that the APP has a plan - just a pity the government is not listening.

Transformation is a hot-button issue in the South African economy. The Poultry Master Plan identified transformation as a key concern. AMIE, through their AMIE Academy, has taken an innovative approach to transformation through their Boot Camp. Take a listen here to find out what they, along with ESD specialists Tushiyah Advisory Services, are doing differently.

Look for the explainer here: https://www.chickenfacts.co.za/explainer/

The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group provides an interesting service - it tracks the value of a basic food basket through the prices that consumers actually pay at the till. This is extremely important to get insight into the buying patterns of the middle-to-lower income consumer - people who rely on social grants and state pensions. Mervyn Abrahams explains the vital role that the PMBEJD organisation plays in reflecting the lived experience of customers, as opposed to faceless CPI statistics.