Another broiler project to strengthen Cape Town school

On 4 August Cape Forum facilitated the donation of 1 400 broiler chicks and feed to Pelican Park High School in Cape Town. These broilers provide the school with an opportunity to generate a sustainable income while learners receive practical agricultural training.

Bernard Pieters, Head of Community Activation at Cape Forum, says all these broiler chicks will be reared and sold by learners from the school. The proceeds will, in turn, be used to purchase more broilers and feed in the future, allowing the cycle to start again. In this way, the project can quickly become self-sustaining and ultimately profitable, to the benefit of the school, its community and the taxpayer.

Earlier this year, Cape Forum launched this broiler project in the Western Cape for the first time when the organisation donated 2 000 broilers to Skurweberg Secondary School. The school successfully raised approximately 1 950 chicks to maturity and recorded a net profit of more than R50 000.

As with that project, Cape Forum and National Chicks donated the broiler chicks to Pelican Park High School, while Meadow Feeds supplied the feed at cost price. This project followed after the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) approached Cape Forum for assistance with such a donation. Astral Foods, the largest poultry producer in Southern Africa and the parent company of National Chicks, made the donation possible under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer, Gary Arnold.

National Chicks supplies premium Ross 308 day-old chicks and hatching eggs to farming operations locally and elsewhere in Africa. Meadow Feeds, which manufactures a range of specialised feed formulations and blends, is regarded as the market leader in the Southern African animal feed industry.

What those involved have to say

• Gary Arnold, Chief Executive Officer of Astral Foods: “Astral Foods recognises its social and corporate responsibility within the agricultural sector in which it operates. It was a privilege for us to work with local government, the WCED and the civil rights organisation Cape Forum. Through the involvement of Astral, National Chicks and Meadow Feeds, a school was supported in establishing a broiler project. This initiative aims to develop additional agricultural skills at the school, stimulate entrepreneurial thinking and enable schools to achieve greater financial independence over time. This, in turn, can help ease pressure on the public purse and, consequently, on taxpayers.”

• Dr Mariëtte Wheeler, WCED Curriculum Planner for Agricultural and Marine Sciences: “The broiler project is more than just an agricultural learning opportunity – it is an investment in employment, skills and growth. By giving our learners real, practical experience in poultry production, we are equipping them with hands-on competencies that can open doors to future employment and entrepreneurship. These are skills that cannot be learnt from a textbook alone. We are deeply grateful to National Chicks and Meadow Feeds, as divisions of Astral Foods, and to Cape Forum for supporting this project and helping to create opportunities for our youth.”

• Shariefa Clark, Principal of Pelican Park High School: “We extend our sincere appreciation to Astral, National Chicks, Meadow Feeds and the Stellenbosch University alumni community for their invaluable partnership and unwavering commitment to education, skills development, food security and youth empowerment.

• “From the delivery of the day-old chicks to the preparation and commissioning of our broiler unit, every phase of this project reflected professionalism, excellence and genuine care. The comprehensive training sessions conducted at the broiler unit by the enthusiastic team from National Chicks equipped our educators and learners with the confidence, technical knowledge and practical skills required to manage a successful broiler production system. Their willingness to share their expertise and patiently guide us through every step made the learning experience both engaging and empowering.

• “A special word of thanks goes to Bernard (Cape Forum), whose inspirational spirit, encouragement and unwavering commitment have been a driving force throughout this journey. His mentorship has been invaluable, continually encouraging us to look beyond the project itself and recognise its potential to transform lives through agricultural education and entrepreneurship. His passion for developing people and establishing sustainable agricultural programmes has inspired our school community and helped lay the foundation for what we believe will be the beginning of a thriving enterprise at Pelican Park High School.”

This project directly supports Cape Forum’s education plan, which aims to create spaces in which schools can operate more independently and sustainably. At the same time, it gives learners valuable practical exposure to the agricultural sector, as well as to the principles of entrepreneurship, financial management and project planning.

“In addition to this project, Cape Forum is also involved in other agricultural projects with the Dutch seed company Rijk Zwaan and the WCED. A single solution cannot simply be replicated everywhere, and diverse partnerships and solutions are needed to make a meaningful, measurable and sustainable difference at grassroots level over time,” Pieters concludes.