The Institute's Poultry Management Training Centre is the only one of its kind in Africa. The Centre has been established on land owned and nominally leased from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is situated in a country setting some 8km from the centre of Pietermaritzburg.

In June 2006 the KZNPI was awarded full accreditation as an education and training provider in AgriSETA. The University of KwaZulu-Natal also approves the certificates awarded to successful students on the flagship twelve month course.

The facilities comprise two lecture halls, administrative offices, three residences for ten students each, and staff housing. The adjacent Training Farm presently includes a 400-bird commercial layer unit, two 500-bird broiler units, broiler breeder rearing and laying units, a controlled-environment pullet rearing house, small hatchery, a feed store and a bio-security shower block which controls access to the farm.

The Institute has had enormous support from the local poultry industry, including the donation of breeding stock and equipment. The Info Hall at KZNPI is a showcase for products and equipment.

Great emphasis is placed on practical work and students are involved in day-to-day aspects of the running of the Training Farm.

Currently the training programme comprises of 10 month NQF 3 poultry qualification Certificate in Poultry Production, Credit bearing skills program towards the Poultry Production qualification, as well as several other short courses. Students who pass the short course test are issued with certificates. See Forthcoming courses for more details. From 2008 onwards, we will also run NQF1 and NQF 2 qualification courses.”

The Institute is grateful for the support of donors who, over the past ten years, have provided funding to enable unemployed and disadvantaged learners to be trained. The Swiss-South African Co-operation Initiative (SSACI) has been the Institute’s major donor over the past three years.

The Institute received a SETA Discretionary Grant to assist with training costs in 2005 and 2006.

Student selection procedures include an interview and in-house English and Arithmetic tests. Students receive training to equip them for a range of future activities. Over 800 people have been trained on a variety of courses to date.

Some have gone on to set up their own small poultry farming operations, some are employed as trainers in other organisations, some are employed by commercial poultry companies, and some have followed a career in extension work. In view of the limited places on each course (20 to 30), the Institute's emphasis is on training trainers, so that knowledge can be passed on effectively to the people who are not able to attend a full course. To this end, the Institute’s five-day short courses are accessible to Department of Agriculture Extension Officers.

The First Lady of KZN and President of the KZN Poultry Institute, Zama Ndebele (right) with KZNPI Administration Director Julie Nixon and Pearl Nzama, one of 30 learners on the 2005/2006 NQF level 3 Poultry Production Learnership.

Excellent lecturing facilities are used in training prospective poultry managers

Students taking a break from their studies 
Lecture complex in the distance and accommodation blocks in the foreground