Local poultry demand largely met, exports targeted
Lewanika Timothy | Monday August 10, 2026 06:00
Answering a question in Parliament recently, Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Edwin Dikoloti, revealed that the country's annual demand for poultry meat stood at approximately 50,000 tonnes, while demand for table eggs was around 13 million dozens annually.
Members of Parliament were informed that current meat production currently stands at 46,059 tonnes, slightly below estimated annual demand, while table egg production has reached 14.7 million dozens, exceeding domestic demand by 1.7 million dozens.
Dikoloti said poultry producers were already producing excess poultry products in the form of Further Processed Chicken (FPC) to supplement the domestic market. The products are supplied to Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) as special cuts and other value-added products.
The minister noted that the industry had demonstrated its production capacity over recent years, recording poultry meat output of 51,000 tonnes during 2022-23 and 51,400 tonnes in 2023-24. Production in the previous financial year reached 50,062.44 tonnes against a target of 50,000 tonnes.
Egg production has consistently remained above domestic requirements with sector having had produced 14.5 million dozens in 2022-23, 13.2 million dozens in 2023-24 and 14.7 million dozens in the previous financial year, surpassing the national target of 13 million dozens.
With domestic demand largely met, Dikoloti told Parliament the industry was now preparing to penetrate export markets.
He attributed the sector's performance to the Poultry Liaison Committee, an advisory body that has been operational for more than 15 years. The committee, chaired by the private sector with the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture serving as secretariat, meets monthly to address supply chain challenges across the industry.
The minister said the poultry industry, currently valued at P3.5 billion, is projected to grow to P10 billion by 2030 and employs about 10,000 people across its value chain.
Government is also stepping up support for the sector through commercialisation initiatives. Dr Dikoloti said the Botswana Livestock Commercialisation Project (BoLCoP), to be launched in October in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will commercialise small livestock value chains, including poultry.
The initiative comes alongside recent financing programmes by the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency aimed at expanding domestic agricultural production and strengthening value-added agro-processing.
Dikoloti was responding to a question from Shoshong MP, Moneedi Bagaisamang, who had sought an update on national demand, production levels and whether Botswana was producing poultry products in excess of domestic requirements.