Participants during the poultry write-shop in Masaka, Uganda.

The MATF recently organized a successful manual development write-shop in Masaka district of Uganda from the 22-31 July 2008.

Participants were drawn from Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya:
< The Community Integrated   Development Initiatives (CIDI);
< National Agricultural Advisory   Services (NAADS);
< Rakai District Veterinary Office   (DVO);
< St. Jude Organic Farm, Masaka;
< Indigenous Consultants   Researchers and Trainers (INCORET);
< Rakai Chicken Breeders Association;
< Lake Zone Agricultural Research and Development Institute (LZARDI)-Mwanza;
< Veterinary Investigation Centre (VIC)-Mwanza;
< FARM-Africa and MATF.

At the end of the write-shop, participants had managed to write a comprehensive draft of a practical training manual developed from the innovative Rakai poultry cross-breeding and programmed hatching project. CIDI was selected and supported by MATF in Round 2 to implement this project from 2003 – 2005 in Rakai District, Uganda.

MATF aims to document the innovative model arising from this project and the write-shop is therefore an excellent first step in that direction. The final model document and training manual will prove invaluable to trainers and organizations keen on promoting similar and productive poultry farming practices in the East African region and beyond.