Every poultry enterprise begins with one critical input: healthy day-old chicks.

Yet for thousands of poultry farmers across northern and eastern Nigeria, getting those chicks is one of the most difficult parts of the business.

With most commercial hatcheries concentrated in the Southwest, many farmers travel for hours to purchase starter stock. By the time the chicks arrive, transportation stress, high temperatures, and long journeys often leave them weak, with significant mortality before they even reach the farm.

The result is higher production costs, lower productivity, and reduced profitability, especially for smallholder farmers who already struggle with expensive feed, disease outbreaks, and limited access to veterinary support.

A new initiative led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) aims to change that.

Taking Hatcheries Closer to Farmers

Rather than relying on a handful of large commercial hatcheries, the project proposes establishing decentralised community hatcheries in underserved poultry-producing regions.

The model, known as the Sustainable Decentralised Dual-purpose Chick and Input Supply Delivery System (DDCDS), is supported through CGIAR’s Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods (SAAF) Catalytic Fund.

Instead of functioning solely as hatcheries, these centres are designed to become integrated poultry service hubs that provide:

• Healthy day-old chicks
• Affordable poultry feed
• Veterinary services
• Farmer training
• Access to agricultural financing

Reducing the distance between hatchery and farm could significantly lower transportation costs while improving chick survival rates and overall flock performance.

Strengthening Local Poultry Value Chains

One notable feature of the project is its emphasis on dual-purpose chickens—improved indigenous breeds capable of producing both meat and eggs.

Demand for these birds continues to rise across Nigeria because they are generally better adapted to local production systems while offering multiple income streams for farmers.

The decentralised model also connects community hatcheries with local producers of fertile eggs, creating a more resilient domestic breeding and supply network.

Beyond improving access to chicks, the system is expected to stimulate rural enterprise by creating opportunities for hatchery operators, veterinary professionals, feed distributors, transporters, extension agents, and input suppliers.

Preparing for Scale

To refine the model before wider implementation, ILRI recently convened an Innovation Package and Scaling Readiness (IPSR) workshop in Ibadan, bringing together stakeholders from across Nigeria’s poultry ecosystem.

Participants included hatchery operators, poultry breeders, veterinarians, feed manufacturers, transport providers, government agencies, financial institutions, extension services, researchers, and development organisations.

According to ILRI Technology Transfer Specialist Adebola Adebayo, the workshop focused on identifying implementation bottlenecks, strengthening enabling conditions, and developing a phased roadmap for national rollout.

The approach applies CGIAR’s Scaling Readiness framework, which seeks to prevent promising agricultural innovations from remaining trapped in pilot projects by deliberately building the partnerships, financing, and institutional support needed for long-term adoption.

What Success Could Look Like

If successfully implemented, ILRI estimates the model could increase rural poultry productivity by 20–30% within three years.

By 2030, project partners aim to:

• Establish 15 decentralised hatchery delivery systems across five Nigerian states
• Directly support 1,500 farming households
• Create approximately 6,000 jobs across the poultry value chain
• Improve access to affordable poultry meat and eggs for around 200,000 peri-urban households

Why It Matters

Nigeria’s poultry sector has long battled structural bottlenecks that extend beyond feed prices and disease outbreaks.

Access to quality chicks remains one of the least discussed, yet most consequential constraints facing producers outside the country’s major poultry clusters.

Decentralising hatchery services represents more than improved logistics. It offers an opportunity to strengthen rural poultry value chains, reduce input inequality, expand employment, and improve food security by ensuring farmers can access healthy birds closer to where they live and work.

If the DDCDS model delivers on its promise, it could become one of the most practical interventions for improving poultry production in underserved parts of Nigeria.

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