Assessment of Cooperatives in the Poultry Industry - 2013.pdf - Seda

Research Report: Addressing the Needs, Opportunities and Challenges of Cooperatives
and Collectively Owned Enterprises in the Poultry and Related Industries
identifies the way in which this interaction takes place. If the producer does not deal with
developing farmers it provides the reason for this.
Table 4-10: Interactions of large egg producers with developing farmers
Business
Egg Producer 1
Egg Producer 2
Egg Producer 3
Work with
developing
farmers?
Main Function (if yes)/ Reason why (if no)
Independent farmers supply eggs which are
packaged under the label of the large producer
Everything is done internally, from breeding to
growing, to laying to packaging. No other farmers or
services used.
The business is a cooperative. Main business does
packaging and selling under brand name; many
farmers form part of the cooperative and provide
eggs.
Of the three egg producers listed above, one is a large-scale cooperative; one a family owned
business and the remaining one a listed company. Both egg producers (the large corporate and the
cooperative) deal with small-scale farmers.
There is potential for primary cooperatives to work with the large corporate producer in two ways.
The first is by producing eggs. In this interaction the large producer provides livestock, limited
equipment, and advice to the farmers. Farmers then operate an egg laying farm and sell eggs to the
producer. These eggs are packaged and labelled under the brand of the large producer.
The producer highlighted that very few developing farmers are
able to meet the standards required to become egg layers.
Once a farmer approaches the business wanting to be an egg
layer, the producer will conduct an environmental impact
assessment on the farm and assess whether the food safety
regulations will be upheld. In order to ensure that these
standards are attained, farmers generally have to upgrade
The producer highlighted
that very few developing
farmers are able to meet the
standards required to
become egg layers
their facilities and ensure their egg laying farm is well monitored to continue to meet health and
safety standards. Many farmers withdraw from the process when they do not meet the standards.
They generally do not have the capital to upgrade their facilities and they realise the profit margins
are not as high as they had previously imagined. Due to this, very few developing farmers actually
interact with the large egg producer, despite the initiative being in place.
Cooperatives can interact
along the value chain with
large producers through the
sale of spent hens
Another way in which cooperatives can interact along the
value chain with large producers is through the sale of spent
hens. The producer sells these hens in large volumes at the
laying facilities upon arrangement, or in retail quantities at two
outlets. There is potential for cooperatives to run a business
selling spent hens, either locally at producer retail sites or
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