Silverlands expands integrated poultry operations across Tanzania

TANZANIA – Silverlands Tanzania is expanding its integrated poultry production model to improve poultry farming by investing in feed manufacturing, hatchery operations, veterinary services, and farmer training across Tanzania and neighbouring markets.

The company said its operating model brings together different parts of the poultry value chain to help farmers access production inputs and technical support from a single supplier while improving consistency in poultry production.

Silverlands Tanzania Managing Director Stewart Bradnick said the business was established to address two major needs in the poultry sector by supplying high-quality poultry feed and healthy day-old chicks, which he described as essential components of sustainable poultry production.

According to the company, its operations currently produce about 21 million day-old chicks each year, along with approximately 72,000 metric tonnes of poultry feed distributed to poultry farmers in Tanzania and nearby countries.

Integrated production model

The company said it was the first business in Tanzania to process soybeans and among the earliest feed manufacturers to introduce pelleted poultry feed, which has since become more widely used within the country’s poultry industry.

Rather than concentrating on one area of production, Silverlands said it combines poultry breeding, feed manufacturing, hatchery vaccination, disease diagnostics, technical advisory services and farmer training as part of its production system.

Bradnick said poultry diseases have remained one of the biggest challenges for farmers, adding that inadequate biosecurity measures and limited access to veterinary services previously contributed to chick mortality rates ranging from 20% to 30% in many production areas.

To reduce these losses, the company vaccinates chicks before they leave its hatcheries, providing early protection before they reach poultry farms.

Farmer training and grain supply

Alongside its commercial operations, Silverlands runs a poultry training centre that offers five-day residential courses covering poultry nutrition, flock management, housing, disease prevention and biosecurity through classroom lessons and practical demonstrations.

The company said more than 5,500 rural poultry farmers have completed the programme, while its diagnostic laboratory works with Tanzania’s Director of Veterinary Services to support poultry disease surveillance and testing.

Since launching operations in 2014, Silverlands has also sent Tanzanian employees for technical training programmes in Scotland, Indonesia, Thailand, Zambia and South Africa as part of workforce development efforts.

The company said maize accounts for about 41% of poultry production costs, prompting it to partner with MazaoHub to connect maize farmers with reliable buyers and secure a steady grain supply for feed production.

Silverlands added that participating maize growers receive guaranteed offtake arrangements through the partnership, while the company has installed storage facilities with a capacity of 32,000 tonnes to reduce post-harvest losses, which can reach 20% due to inadequate storage.

Looking ahead, the company plans to expand distribution of its dual-purpose SASSO chicken to more rural communities and continue working with the African Poultry Multiplication Initiative under the World Poultry Foundation, alongside public- and private-sector partners, as Tanzania seeks to expand its poultry industry.

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