Quarterly Report FY 2019: Quarter 1 for Feed the Future Tworore Inkoko, Twunguke

The project provides a package of tangible and technical support to rural households for the successful production of broiler chickens. This package includes capital, training, equipment, feed, technical services, and marketing support. The project is a Global Development Alliance (GDA) between USAID/Rwanda, a US-based foundation, African Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), a Rwandan feed company, Zamura Feeds Ltd., and the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA). The project's strategic objective is to increase the production of broiler chickens in the Musanze District, Northern Province, to improve household nutrition through the increased consumption of animal-source proteins, in the form of chicken meat. The project's three-year pilot aims to support 750 smallholder households for successful broiler production. Through the provision of microloans for capital and recurring expenses and a broiler buyback at the end of each grow cycle, the goal is to create a sustainable model for small-scale broiler production that can be scaled up in Rwanda and the surrounding region. The project has achieved several milestones in the first quarter of FY 2019. The project celebrated the success of top performers at the All Farmers Meeting held on October 2, 2018. The meeting nearly doubled the attendance of the first All Farmers Meeting in May 2018. The project continued to recruit and enroll new farmers, with 80 new farmers from two sectors (Gataraga and Kinigi) enrolling this quarter. The project experienced reliable access to day-old chicks for all scheduled placements, unlike the previous two quarters. The project also opened a Kigali-based point-of-sale store with cold storage and an area for customer service. The store is expected to extend the sales reach and increase the trust amongst the client base. The project has also switched to pelleted feed for all chickens starting from October 2, 2018. Pelleted feed enables faster growth rates in broilers and lower feed conversion rates (FCR). The project anticipates that this switch will increase the efficiency of conversion of feed to weight gain, resulting in quicker returns on investment for TI farmers. The project estimates that the switch to pelleted feed will bring birds to target harvest weight quicker, by up to five days, allowing TI farmers to sell birds sooner and have shorter growing cycles. This will result in quicker profit for TI farmers. The project has also addressed the need of having a Kigali-based point-of-sale location by opening and staffing a chicken meat store in Kigali-Kigali. The store will enable the project to extend its sales reach and increase the trust amongst the client base. The project has also hosted the second All Farmers Meeting with nearly 215 people in attendance, including TI farmers, Musanze District, and USAID representatives. The meeting was a success, and the project is expected to continue hosting such meetings to engage with farmers and stakeholders. The project has also faced several challenges, including the increased number of cases of ascites in TI birds. The project's tech team quickly organized and conducted trainings with each farmer regarding the issue. The project will continue to follow up with farmers to ensure that all protocol is being maintained, and investigate diet-related factors. The project is finalizing a partnership with a microfinance institution to provide loans for farmers' recurring expenses. ASAP is in final negotiations with Goshen Finance, with the assistance of USAID's Ngiriza Ngiriza activity. The project aims to finalize the contract with Goshen in FY 2019 Q2. The project's quarterly indicators are available in Appendix A, and the success stories are available in Appendix B. The project's agenda for the next quarter is available in Appendix C.