NutriCare Health Foods for a Productive Nation

One of the main constraints to village chicken production in Malawi, like in many other parts of Africa, is the frequent devastation of flocks by Newcastle Disease. Despite having the I-2 (Isolation 2) vaccine which is a thermo-tolerant vaccine, produced at low cost in Malawi by the Ministry of Agriculture, Non-vaccine costs of routine immunization systems are expected to rise by 2022 and one-third of these costs are attributable to supply chain logistics.

Current supply chain bottlenecks and inefficiencies can cause I-2 vaccines to spoil and valuable resources to be wasted before vaccines reach the people who need them, suggesting a need for innovative and lower-cost methods for distribution. As non-military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has advanced in recent years, interest in potential humanitarian and development use cases for UAVs have proliferated due to their ability to traverse difficult terrains, reduce labour, and increase community resilient.