From the Field

Asked about the best part of the recent Hatchery Management course that she attended at South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute, Fortunate Shivambu demurred, “Everything is imperative, everything is linked. You have to understand the whole process.” The young Hatchery operator, with a degree in Animal Production, a focus on ...

Pako Jood’s life took an unforeseen turn when he moved back to the family farm from his IT job in Johannesburg as South Africa entered its first hard COVID lockdown in early 2020. Years earlier, his father had bought an incubator to produce chicks for his broiler business, but the ...

Currently, the sole World Poultry Foundation-funded farm intern from South Africa in the US, Indiphile Bezana is drawing on a well of inner strength as she settles into life on a remote commercial poultry farm in the Arizona desert, a long way from the verdant pastures of home in South ...

This story is one in a series from Frances Chisholm highlighting stories of lives impacted by World Poultry Foundation programs and workshops both in the U.S. and abroad. We encourage you to learn more about Ms. Chisholm and our poultry projects in South Africa. Zilungisele Jozana knew he wanted ...

Peter Meyer raises broilers in South Africa. He is a big fan of the KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI), having taken three courses, all supported by the World Poultry Foundation.  “They are doing great work,” he exclaimed. Peter raises 1,000-1,500 birds per cycle in Limpopo province and sells primarily to the ...

Phumla Ntombela returned to her rural roots a few years ago, took numerous short agriculture courses, studied animal production, and became a chicken farmer.  “My dad kept chickens, they always fascinated me,” she exclaims. The young South African keeps layers but her focus is on broilers.  She raises 1,000 birds per ...

Returning to a very tight South African job market, World Poultry Foundation intern Sicelo Gamede lucked out in securing a supervisory position at Chiffon Estates, the mixed poultry/pig farm in South Africa where he started his poultry career. “I feel that my life isn’t at a standstill,” he ...

Since her amazing year pioneering as a World Poultry Foundation-funded intern at Iowa Cage Free, Nothando “Thando” Sibiya’s professional trajectory has definitely been “sky’s-the-limit.”   Back in South Africa, in just over two years she progressed from one manager position to another and also squeezed a brief entrepreneurial stint ...