LUANAR student hatches poultry farming idea

A 22-year-old student has turned a family farming challenge into an innovation that could change how small-scale farmers hatch chicks.

The innovation was developed by Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) student Wellington Kambirinya, who drew inspiration from his parents’ poultry farming activities at home.

Kambirinya, a third-year student at LUANAR studying Irrigation Engineering, says he came up with the idea of developing the incubator machine while he was in his second year after noticing that the chickens his parents keep at home in Thundu, Zomba, were not hatching enough eggs.

He says since developing the incubator machine, his parents’ poultry farming business has started to improve because eggs are now being hatched more frequently and easily.

The young innovator has encouraged fellow young people with skills and ideas to develop innovative products not to underestimate themselves, but instead to think creatively and turn their ideas into reality.

Kambirinya’s incubator

Kambirinya says the incubator machine he has developed has a device that monitors the temperature inside the machine.

He also says the system can indicate the type of medication that can be given when a chicken becomes sick.

However, despite successfully developing the incubator machine, Kambirinya says he has faced several challenges, including a lack of financial resources to purchase the necessary materials.

He says the money he used to develop the machine was part of the money his parents sent him for his upkeep at school.

“This incubator machine is modern because it has a device that enables a farmer to monitor what is happening inside the incubator through their phone, even when they are in a distant country,” he said.

The young innovator has appealed to the government and other organisations to provide him with financial support so that he can further develop his ideas and create innovations that can benefit poultry farmers as well as farmers involved in irrigation farming.

Kambirinya, who lives in Zomba near Thundu Primary School, says anyone willing to support his innovations can contact him on 0887 942 211.