11 rural entrepreneurs from Ward 14 in Gwanda district have established a lucrative egg production project.

The members say they ventured into egg production a year ago after undergoing the Hand in Hand Zimbabwe (HiHZim) 6-month business modular trainings.

“The HiHZim module on opportunity identification and the technical skills acquired from poultry training programmes helped us to understand the basics of starting a lucrative egg production enterprise,” Nonhlanhla Moyo (34), a group member said.

The group currently has 31 layers hatching 600 eggs per month. The project produces an average of 20 crates a month. Each crate is sold at ZAR55 translating to ZAR1100 per month.

Members sell their eggs at three (3) business centres, a neighbouring village, a local clinic and the local community.

The group members say they will share their profits in April after reinvesting profits since inception.

Internal savings and lendings (ISALs) which they were introduced to by HiHZim have also helped them to expand their individual income generating projects. Each member contributes ZAR10 per month which can be borrowed and returned at 10% interest rate.

The group expects to benefit from economies of scale as the business expands.