Online training gives wings to developing poultry farmers

Since its establishment in 1992 as a private, non-profit training facility, the KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI) has provided theoretical and practical courses to thousands of people from South Africa and other African countries. These trainees have included everyone from subsistence farmers to employees of large corporates in the poultry value chain.

Dr Nicky Tyler, a lecturer in animal and poultry science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and chairperson of the KZNPI, says that trainees usually undergo three to five days of intensive theoretical and practical training at the institute’s premises in Pietermaritzburg, boarding on site. This changed, however, with the arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020.

“For our on-site training, we have lecture rooms, and eight production units housing commercial layer hens, broiler breeders, and broilers, all of different ages and at different stages of development and production,” he says. “We also have a small demonstration hatchery and facilities for