Nutropia Poultry & Feed is building a poultry complex in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Nutropia, which is a company under establishment with the goal of becoming one of the top 10 poultry and feed companies in Africa and the Middle East, has signed a contract with Agrotop to design, build and equip the project, according to a press release from Agrotop.
The first stage of the project, which is expected to begin before the end of 2018, will consist of a hatchery, broiler farms and a processing plant capable of providing 4,700 tons of poultry meat annually. Once completed, the Nutropia project will include a parent stock rearing farm, a parent stock production farm, six broiler farms, a hatchery, a processing plant and a feed mill.
Agrotop, in its press release, stated that the facilities will be developed so it will be both economically efficient and environmentally sustainable. The strictest biosecurity standards will be adopted to safeguard bird and public health, the company added.
Nutropia is starting the project with an initial capital investment of EUR20 million (US$23.3 million).
Vision to provide Ethiopia with affordable protein
Ethiopia’s annual average chicken meat consumption is only a half a kilo per year per person, significantly lower than the average of 2.3 kilos per person for the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa and 41 kilograms per person in Peru.
Fasika Eyassu, co-founder of Nutropia, said the planned complex will help meet the need for affordable and accessible animal protein.
"One of the main reasons for malnutrition in Ethiopia is the unavailability of cheap animal protein. Currently, only 12 percent of the country's protein intake comes from animals," said Eyassu. "Nutropia is entering the market with the aim of closing this gap. We aim to restore dignity of mankind by ending hunger and malnutrition. We believe that great businesses tackle great problems."