Cape Forum secures sponsorship of 2 000 chicks and feed for Skurweberg school from Astral Foods

Cape Forum facilitated the donation of 2 000 broilers from National Chicks and one cycle of feed (from day one until the chick is slaughtered) from Meadow Feeds to Skurweberg Secondary School in Ceres earlirlier this month. This follows after the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) approached the civil rights organisation to assist with such a donation. This donation is made possible by Astral Foods, the largest poultry producer in Southern Africa, under the leadership of Gary Arnold, the CEO. The company specialises in animal feeds, broiler genetics, day-old-chicks and chicken processing.

National Chicks, a division of Astral Operations, is the supplier of superior Ross 308 day-old-chicks and hatching eggs in Southern Africa and other African countries. Meadow Feeds is regarded as the market leader in the Southern African animal feed industry, producing a variety of specialised diets and customer feed mixes.

The aim of this initiative is to give the school the space to establish a sustainable income. The plan is that the school will raise the chicks and use the proceeds to purchase its own chicks and feed in the future. In this way, the project can become self-sustaining and ultimately profitable more quickly to the benefit of the school, its community and the taxpayer. The project has so far exceeded all expectations. After 10 days since the donation of the chicks on 3 March, no deaths have been recorded among the chicks. The first seven days are considered high risk. Dr Ivan Meyer, the Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism, described this project as brilliant.

“Astral Foods recognises its social and corporate responsibility within the agricultural sector in which it operates. It has been a privilege for us to work with the local government, the WCED and the civil rights organisation Cape Forum. Thanks to the involvement of Astral, National Chicks and Meadow Feeds, a school has been 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 contribute to alleviating pressure on the state treasury and therefore also on taxpayers,” says Arnold.

According to Dr Mariëtte Wheeler, the WCED’s curriculum planner for agricultural and marine sciences, the broiler project is more than just an agricultural learning opportunity: it is an investment in jobs, skills and growth. “By giving our learners real, hands-on experience in chicken production, we equip them with practical skills that open doors to future employment and entrepreneurship. These are skills that cannot be learned from a textbook alone. We are deeply grateful to National Chicks and Meadow Feeds, as divisions of Astral Foods, and Cape Forum for supporting this project and helping to build opportunities for our youth,” says Wheeler.

“It’s buzzing at Skurweberg Secondary School. Our Agriculture department has received a huge boost with the arrival of 2 000 chicks. For our agricultural management learners, this project means much more than just feeding and watering the chicks. It is the reinforcement of our curriculum in action. These learners now get the unique opportunity to manage the full cycle of poultry farming first-hand: from biosecurity and growth monitoring to final market readiness,” says Ivan Fredericks, Skurweberg Secondary School’s Deputy Principal and Head of the Department of Agriculture.

“This dream has become a reality thanks to the incredible support of Cape Forum, National Chicks and Meadow Feeds. Your contribution is an investment in the future of South Africa’s agriculture. This project strengthens the bridge between theory and practice that will help feed our learners’ future. Thank you for helping to empower our learners and make their dreams come true,” concludes Fredericks.

This project aligns directly with Cape Forum’s education plan, which aims to create environments where schools can function more independently and sustainably. At the same time, it offers learners valuable, practical exposure to the agricultural industry as well as the principles of entrepreneurship, financial management and project planning.

Bernard Pieters, Head of Community Activation at Cape Forum, thanks the WCED for their trust in the organisation to collaborate. He also thanks Eloff for his willingness to facilitate and approve the donation with Astral Foods’ board of directors.

“These types of partnerships show what is possible when the private sector, government departments and civil society organisations work together to create sustainable solutions for our schools,” says Pieters.

Cape Forum looks forward to working with its network school, Skurweberg Secondary School, and the WCED to make this project a success so that it serves as an example of how communities can be strengthened through collaboration.

“In addition to this project, Cape Forum also has other agricultural projects with the Dutch seed company, Rijk Zwaan, also in collaboration with the WCED. With more partnerships in the pipeline, we are blessed by the trust that these companies and the provincial government place in us. One solution cannot be duplicated everywhere and diverse partnerships and solutions are needed to make a meaningful, measurable and sustainable difference on grassroots level over time,” concludes Pieters.