Strengthening quality protein maize development and utilisation for indigenous chickens in Zimbabwe

Increasing household nutrition is a top priority in Zimbabwe where protein energy malnutrition is rampant among women and children. In rural areas, most people do not afford protein rich foods that include meat, meat products and other alternative sources. Yet, farmers in these areas are consuming maize and also grow indigenous chickens mainly based on the free range system. Ordinary maize is low in the essential amino acids, tryptophan and lysine, and thus stunted growth results not only among people but also among their animals, thus further complicating their potential sources for proteins. A maize mutant with twice as much the amount of lysine and tryptophan was discovered and termed quality protein maize (QPM). QPM is a major source of proteins for the resource poor farmers who are already growing and consuming maize. However, there are few available QPM varieties on the market due to difficulties and time consuming nature associated with breeding such varieties. Rapid and modern technologies such as marker-assisted selection are not easily applied to QPM breeding due to the fact that such technologies require optimization. When fully optimized, molecular breeding technology reduces the time, cost and drudgery associated with the conventional screening methods. Feeding trials of QPM provide concrete evidence on the benefits of this type of maize in increasing the animal growth rate and carcass quality. Animals fed with quality protein maize usually grow faster and bigger thus supplying the rural farmers with yet another excellent source of proteins and increased income.