{"id":28978,"date":"2026-07-29T13:20:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/?p=28978"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:20:23","slug":"evangelista-chekera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/alumni\/south-african-alumni\/evangelista-chekera","title":{"rendered":"Evangelista Chekera Is Reinventing Poultry Farming in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

For thousands of smallholder farmers across Africa, losses are accepted as part of farming. Evangelista Chekera<\/strong><\/a> refused to accept that. Instead of asking farmers to adapt to outdated systems, she asked a different question: What if technology could mimic nature?<\/em><\/p>\n

That question became the foundation of Passion Poultry Pvt Ltd<\/strong><\/a>, an agritech company designing affordable, environmentally friendly equipment that helps small-scale poultry farmers improve productivity, reduce losses and build more sustainable businesses.<\/p>\n

Evangelista Chekera designs solutions around farmers, not laboratories<\/h2>\n

Innovation is often associated with sophisticated technology and expensive machinery. Yet some of the most transformative inventions emerge from observing everyday challenges.<\/p>\n

For Evangelista Chekera, those challenges were visible in poultry farms across Zimbabwe, where high chick mortality continued to limit farmers’ incomes and confidence.<\/p>\n

Working closely with producers, she designed a specialised chick brooding device that recreates the natural warmth of a mother hen. Powered by biomass briquettes made from agricultural waste, the system provides consistent heat while reducing dependence on charcoal, helping protect forests and lowering operating costs.<\/p>\n

The innovation has been shown to reduce chick mortality by as much as 95 per cent<\/strong>, offering farmers a practical solution that improves productivity without increasing complexity.<\/p>\n

Passion Poultry is modernising smallholder farming<\/h2>\n

Evangelista Chekera’s vision extends beyond a single product.<\/p>\n

Through Passion Poultry, she has developed a growing portfolio of agricultural innovations designed to make poultry farming more efficient, affordable and environmentally sustainable.<\/p>\n

Among them is an innovative poultry slaughtering device that simplifies processing for small-scale producers while improving consistency and reducing labour demands.<\/p>\n

Both innovations received utility model protection from the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO)<\/strong>, reflecting the originality and practical value of her work.<\/p>\n

Today, Passion Poultry supports hundreds of farmers across Zimbabwe while continuing to expand access to technologies that bridge the gap between traditional farming practices and modern agricultural efficiency.<\/p>\n

The Tony Elumelu Foundation accelerated Evangelista Chekera’s growth<\/h2>\n

A defining milestone in Evangelista Chekera’s entrepreneurial journey came in 2021<\/strong>, when she was selected for the Programme d'entrepreneuriat de la Fondation Tony Elumelu<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n

Through the programme, she received business training, mentorship, US$5 000 en capital d'amor\u00e7age<\/strong> and access to one of Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystems.<\/p>\n

The investment helped Passion Poultry formalise its growth by registering as a Private Limited Company and increasing production of its patented agricultural equipment.<\/p>\n

Beyond financial support, the programme strengthened her ability to scale innovations capable of improving livelihoods for poultry farmers across Zimbabwe and beyond.<\/p>\n

From Zimbabwe to the global stage<\/h2>\n

Evangelista Chekera’s work has attracted recognition far beyond Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

She has participated in the TechWomen<\/strong> Emerging Leaders programme, received national innovation awards and earned international recognition for advancing sustainable agricultural technologies.<\/p>\n

Her innovations have also been recognised by organisations including the World Farmers’ Organisation<\/strong>, highlighting the growing global interest in practical African solutions for sustainable food systems.<\/p>\n

These achievements reinforce a broader truth: African entrepreneurs are not simply adopting global innovations\u2014they are creating them.<\/p>\n

Why Evangelista Chekera’s work matters<\/h2>\n

Food security begins long before food reaches the market.<\/p>\n

It begins with farmers having access to the right tools, reliable technologies and affordable innovations that improve productivity while protecting natural resources.<\/p>\n

Through Passion Poultry, Evangelista Chekera<\/strong> is demonstrating that agricultural innovation does not have to be complex to be transformative. By designing solutions around the realities of smallholder farmers, she is helping strengthen food production, reduce waste and promote greener farming practices.<\/p>\n

Her work represents a growing movement of African entrepreneurs building technologies specifically for African challenges.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

\n

Evangelista Chekera continues to expand Passion Poultry’s mission of making poultry farming smarter, more sustainable and more profitable for smallholder producers.<\/p>\n

Her journey demonstrates that meaningful innovation is measured not by the sophistication of a product, but by the lives it improves.<\/p>\n

For every farmer whose chicks survive, every household whose income becomes more secure and every tree preserved through cleaner energy alternatives, Evangelista Chekera’s vision continues to prove that the future of African agriculture can be built one practical innovation at a time.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For thousands of smallholder farmers across Africa, losses are accepted as part of farming. Evangelista Chekera refused to accept that. Instead of asking farmers to adapt to outdated systems, she asked a different question: What if technology could mimic nature? That question became the foundation of Passion Poultry Pvt Ltd, an agritech company designing affordable, …<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":28980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[365,18],"tags":[566,25,150],"class_list":["post-28978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south-african-alumni","category-news","tag-empoweredbytef","tag-africapitalism","tag-empowering-african-entrepreneurs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28978"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28981,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28978\/revisions\/28981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonyelumelufoundation.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}