The english version of this website will be available after the dutch version has completed.

In the meantime you can find below the main facts of the project 'Quafrica'.
Quafrica stands for 'Quails for Africa'.

There are good reasons that the quail might give some help to the needs of people in Africa on a very private scale. The conclusion of a study from a university in Kampala is:

"Government in Uganda and across its boarders should endeavor to promote quail production, which is cheaper in terms of capital investment that allows citizens under poverty line to meet their protein requirements needed for children’s normal growth and maintenance requirement for the adults."

The project 'Quafrica' tries to envelop what is written above.

Timetable

Realised in 2011

• Investigation by visiting Uganda en Kenia and internet: Yes quails are know in many areas, eaten and they pay a good price for it on the market in some areas.
• We found several reliable and good communicating dedicated persons. They have incubators and the information which is needed, we coach them.
• Much expiriences with hatching no succes.
• Places sofar: Kampala and Nairobi(Kibera)

Planning for 2012

Fase 1 Starting
Getting quails in Uganda and Kenia bij hatching(accomplished in 2 stations in Uganda and 1 in Kenya).
Jan/Feb 2012

Fase 2 Multiplication
Experience the challenges that come along. Waiting for the second generation of hatched chicks.
March-May 2012

Fase 3 More Quail Units and Marketing
Expanding the quail units in the areas from the pilots in more backyards
and
Exploring the market for selling of the eggs and meat. How money generating is this really?
July/August 2012

Fase 4
The Quail Breeding Centres(QBC) have the know how en can coach other people to become a QBC
Expanding the quail units in the areas from the 3 pilots (Uganda)
September-December 2012

Contact
Please feel free to mail us: info@kwartelsvoorafrika.nl

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From Africa | Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Africa needs quails says Dutch Pastor
Quails make an easy food source, they are easy to feed and grow quite fast. They are also a source of eggs and meat. Dutch Pastor Jan Peter Kruiger is convinced that this small bird can contribute to reducing famine in Africa.

Kruiger is not an ordinary clergyman. This is evident when visiting his presbytery in Oud-Zuilen, in the heart of Holland. His front yard is full of birdfeed bags.

Beyond the bags, another surprise awaits the unsuspecting visitor: quail eggs packed into his greenhouse, waiting to hatch.

The Pastor of the Opstandinskerk in Utrecht has been passionately breeding the small bird for years. An adult quail is comparable, in size, to a large chick and weighs around 500 grams. Kruiger makes a tidy profit selling the eggs and meat.

“In my church, I teach people to live in harmony and spend reasonably”, says the pastor. “Practice what you preach! That’s why the income from my farming activities go to ‘Kwartels voor Afrika’ (Quails for Africa)”, he adds.

Source of protein
Back in his yard, Kruiger explains his project. The quails are kept in three large enclosures –old rabbit cages. “In Africa, proteins are often missing from the people's diets. Each henhouse can hold up to eight quails and that’s enough to meet the protein requirements of an average African family with children”, explains Kruiger.

The pastor turned entrepreneur hopes each African family will, one day, own a henhouse, starting with families in Uganda and Kenya.

Better than chicken
According to Jan Peter Kruiger, the quail has more to offer than the chicken. “Quails need less space and lay healthier eggs, rich in minerals”, he says. Quails mature faster than chicken. Chicken grow in six months, whereas quails, in summertime, reach full maturity in just eight weeks.

Meanwhile, the project “Quails for Africa” is slowly taking off. The administrative details have been sorted out, for the most part, and “test projects” are underway. The Dutch pastor has already travelled to Kenya this year with a few fertilised eggs. “Unfortunately, they did not survive the eight-hour trip on bumpy roads”. He is already planning another attempt.

The importance of the project, according to Kruiger, lies in the fact that Africans do not have animal farming skills. Quails are certainly found across the continent, but mostly in the wild. “I have, in front of me, a grandmother looking after her grandchildren – something quite common around here. She could sell the excess meat and eggs to make some money”.

Not easy
As sympathetic as the project might appear, Kruiger admits there are obstacles. The eggs of Japanese quails, for instance, do not hatch in captivity. An artificial brooder requires large amounts of electricity and a solar-powered one costs at least 1000 Euros.

Furthermore, the production of meat is usually costly in terms of raw materials. Kruiger has taken that fact into account in his project: “We don’t intend to take food from people and give it to the quails. Since the quail is omnivorous and would eat almost anything, we try to be as creative as possible”.

“Consider, for example, building a henhouse on a hill full of termites. Quails eat termites and humans don’t. Or take the worms from decomposing carcasses, inedible for a human being but perfectly healthy for the quail”.

Meanwhile, in Kruiger’s wildest dreams, he sees poverty stricken areas in Africa having a henhouse next to each hut or home.

http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/africa-needs-quails-says-dutch-pastor