THE Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), through the Imvaba Cooperative Fund, has invested R380,000 to drive the growth and commercialisation prospects of the award-winning family-owned Milani Macethe Poultry Production Primary Cooperative in Kariega.
The Milani Macethe Poultry Production Primary Cooperative says most of the funding will go towards infrastructure rehabilitation, and the remainder will be used for processing and cold-chain equipment.
The poultry business’s manager Thobeka Menze won the Department of Agriculture’s Women Entrepreneurship Award for Best Subsistence Producer in 2024, followed by the department’s Best Poultry Producer Award in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality in 2026. She says the family’s passion for poultry farming dates back to 2002, when they began producing broilers on a small scale alongside cattle and goat farming.
Starting with just 200 day-old chicks housed in a temporary brooder structure, the operation steadily expanded. Today, the cooperative produces 1,500 broilers per production cycle.
The disbursed funds were used for the reconstruction of poultry houses with the capacity to accommodate up to 6,000 broilers, while also funding the purchase of 1,500 day-old chicks, poultry feed and essential processing equipment, including a poultry plucker, chest freezers, a digital scale and a packaging machine, according to ECDC assistant manager for financial incentives and business support, Fikile Mzinyati.
Established in 2002, the cooperative comprises five family members and operates on a 12-hectare farm in Rocklands Valley, Kariega. It supplies both live and processed chickens to residents and local traders. The enterprise has also created two permanent administrative jobs for women from the surrounding community.
“The funding has enabled the cooperative to rebuild and expand our operations. We are rebuilding our operations following devastating floods in 2022/23,” says Menze.
Also, from Rocklands in Kariega, Langbooi Sthathu Agricultural Primary Cooperative received R260,000 from the Imvaba Cooperative Fund in April 2026. The funding was used to renovate broiler housing facilities, acquire processing machinery and equipment, and purchase day-old chicks and poultry feed.
The family-owned enterprise was started in 2003 and is managed by five members of the Langbooi family. Each member of the family has a roe, with Ntombizanele as chairperson, , Ester Nobhelu as deputy chairperson, Nomthandazo as secretary, Sinovuyo as treasurer and Letta Langbooi Runeli in the organiser position. In addition to the five members, the cooperative currently employs three people. It produces approximately 1,440 broilers every four weeks, with facilities accommodating 1,500 birds per production cycle.
Its poultry products are sold in 2kg and 5kg packs to local consumers and businesses, including the Yonayethu and Endaweni Tshisanyama, supplying the growing demand for fresh poultry products in Kariega.
Chairperson Ntombizanele Langbooi says the investment has significantly strengthened the business.
“The Imvaba Cooperative Fund has placed our family’s farming business on a strong growth path. It has helped our broiler poultry operation immensely, particularly through the acquisition of machinery and equipment that has improved our production capacity,” says Langbooi.
Mzinyati says both cooperatives have benefited from years of support through government agricultural development initiatives and continue to implement sound poultry production practices, including biosecurity measures that promote healthy flocks and sustainable production.
“The ECDC’s investment through the Imvaba Cooperative Fund demonstrates the Corporation’s commitment to developing black-owned cooperatives, strengthening agricultural enterprises and supporting inclusive economic growth in the Eastern Cape,” says Mzinyati.
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