CAMEROON – Cameroonian brewing company, Société Anonyme des Brasseries du Cameroun (SABC), has diversified its operations into poultry farming.

The subsidiary of the French beverage company Castel, has set up a new subsidiary, the Cameroonian Farming Company (CFC), aimed to boost growth of the country’s agriculture sector.

The newly established CFC facilities feature a parent farm which will produce 112,500 hatching eggs/week and a hatchery capable of producing 90,000 one day old chicks per week.

The CFC established at an investment of XAF 18 billion (US$31.9m) also encompasses a specialized corn grits production unit.

SABC intends to produce 30,000 tons of corn grits yearly for beer production with some 60,000 tons of the raw material purchased from local farmers and 10,000 tons of grits sourced from Maïscam, an agro-industrial units in the northern part of Cameroon.

The announcement of the investment in the poultry facility comes at a time that Cameroon relies on importation of poultry products from Brazil, Morocco and Turkey, indicates Business in Cameroon.

To further boost local production, Cameroonian animal feed producer, SPC (Société des provenderies du Cameroun), is undertaking a XAF5 billion (US$9m) investment plan to expand its footprint in the country.

According to the company, it seeks to open two new plants in Yaoundé and Nkolmelen, to produce animal feeds and a set up a hatchery.

The investment is aimed to meet the rising local demand and the plants will be an addition to its Bafoussam facility.

The first phase of the Yaoundé plant is scheduled to be complete in the second half of 2022, to produce crumbles and pellets for chicken.

In the second phase, the company will start producing fish feeds, which are currently imported by the country.

Overall, the Yaoundé plant’s yearly capacity will be 50 to 80 tons, built with a XAF4 billion (US$7.2m) investment.

In Nkolmelen, SPC is building a hatching egg production farm initiated by Agrocam, its sister company.

The establishment will include 12 buildings hosting 120 breeders, aimed to produce 20 million hatching eggs.

According to Agrocam, the first three buildings (spanning over 13 hectares) of the Nkolmelen farm, will be completed in November 2021 and the overall investment for the farm is XAF1 billion (US$1.8m).

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