25th May was another great milestone in the history of Northrise Farms. For six delicate weeks, Mr. Bob Chiwetu and his farm crew oversaw the rearing of 1000 broiler birds. This was the first poultry initiative at the farm. Finally, by the given date, the birds were ready for the market with an unusually outstanding weight compared to the usual weight of chickens on the Ndola market.
Northrise Farm and the main campus site have fondly come to be known as the land by the Northrise family and the local people. The local people in the surrounding area of the land were among the first to sample the chickens. Before long people from around the townships (Twapia, Chifubu, George, etc) and suburbs (Hillcrest, Kansenji, Pamodzi, Itawa, etc) of Ndola came flocking to the land to buy the chickens.
Bob and his team ventured out of the land and delivered over 500 chickens at Ndola’s main market, in the Masala area. To date, the majority of Ndola residents is still having a taste of the Northrise Farms chicken. Bob noted that “there is market out there and by God’s grace, the next venture will even be bigger. We have learnt a lot from this first experience and we hope to raise the bar in the next venture.” God is indeed charting the way for Northrise. Members of staff and students alike delighted in this development at the land. They all bought varying numbers of chickens for home consumption as a show of support in the quality of the birds that Northrise had brought to market.
A number of people from all walks of life have contributed to making this first poultry venture a success. Some left their homes in June of last year and came to Africa, Zambia, Ndola and worked on the land laying the foundation for this first chicken run. Most in this group had never been to Africa before. Some have offered their expert guidance and still others have offered their prayers and moral support. May God continue to direct the way Northrise progresses and continue to touch the lives of those who contribute their support in varying ways.