China’s Intelligent Manufacturing Boosts Food Security in Central Africa, Building a Benchmark Project for Layer Farming in the DRC
Release Date: June 5, 2026
Release Location: Lubumbashi City, Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Project Owner: AgroGlobal Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
General Contractor: Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. (Weifang, China)
Project Overview: The Largest Single-Unit Layer Breeding Base in the DRC Officially Inaugurated
On June 5, 2026, a grand completion and commissioning ceremony was held for the 1 Million Layers Modern Layer Chicken Full Industrial Chain Project in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was constructed under the general contracting of Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. More than 280 guests attended the ceremony, including Mutshail, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Governor of Haut-Katanga Province, the Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and representatives of Chinese and Congolese enterprises.
This project is currently the largest and most highly automated single-unit layer breeding base in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It covers a total area of 120 hectares with a total investment of 172 million US dollars. The designed stock scale is 1 million commercial laying hens, supporting the construction of an 180,000-ton annual output feed mill, a 1 million eggs per day egg grading and packaging center, and an organic fertilizer production system with a daily manure treatment capacity of 120 tons. After full operation, the project is expected to produce 315 million eggs (approximately 18,900 tons) annually, with an annual output value of about 92 million US dollars. It will directly create 720 jobs and indirectly drive more than 3,500 jobs in the upstream and downstream industrial chains, effectively alleviating the tight egg supply in the DRC and Central Africa, and injecting strong impetus into local food security and economic development.
Core Project Data:
- Total investment: 172 million US dollars (including 128 million US dollars for equipment and engineering investment, 44 million US dollars for working capital)
- Number of chicken houses: 20 standardized H-type layer houses + 7 brooding and rearing houses + 2 pullet houses
- Stock scale: 1 million commercial laying hens + 200,000 brooding and rearing chickens
- Project cycle: 19 months (November 2024 – May 2026)
- Designed laying rate: 91% (peak period), 84% annual average laying rate
- Designed mortality rate: ≤2.8% per year
- Payback period: 3.7 years
Site Layout: Scientific Zoning with Integrated Full Industrial Chain Design
Adopting the design concepts of “closed-loop full industrial chain, biosafety priority, and efficient and intensive production”, the project is strictly divided into four functional areas: production area, auxiliary production area, office and living area, and manure treatment area, tailored to the tropical savanna climate characteristics of the DRC (high temperatures throughout the year with distinct wet and dry seasons, annual average temperature of 24-26℃). Each area is strictly separated by physical isolation and green buffer zones to ensure biosafety and production efficiency.
Core Layout of the General Plan
- Production Area (65 hectares): Located in the north-central part of the site, on the leeward side of the prevailing wind direction, including 20 layer houses, 7 brooding and rearing houses, and 2 pullet houses. It adopts a row layout with a 18-meter spacing between chicken houses to ensure ventilation and lighting effects.
- Auxiliary Production Area (28 hectares): Located south of the production area, including an 180,000-ton annual output feed mill, 4 1,000-ton steel plate silos, a 1 million eggs per day egg grading and packaging center, a 2,000-ton low-temperature egg warehouse, a veterinary laboratory, and a material warehouse.
- Office and Living Area (12 hectares): Located in the southeast corner of the site, on the windward side, including a comprehensive office building, staff dormitories, canteens, a training center, and a leisure activity area.
- Manure Treatment Area (15 hectares): Located in the far northwest corner of the site, on the leeward side of the prevailing wind direction, including a 120-ton daily manure treatment center, a 50,000-ton annual output organic fertilizer plant, and a biogas power station.
Key System Designs
- Water Supply and Drainage System
- Water source: Dual water source design of groundwater + river water, with 3 600-cubic-meter deep wells built, with a daily water supply capacity of 1,800 cubic meters.
- Water supply system: Variable frequency constant pressure water supply with two independent pipelines for production and domestic water. Nipple drinkers are used in chicken houses to ensure clean drinking water for each chicken.
- Drainage system: Rainwater and sewage separation design. Rainwater is directly discharged through the site’s rainwater pipe network, and production and domestic sewage are treated by the sewage treatment station and then used for site greening irrigation.
- Generator System
- Main power supply: Connected to the 33kV high-voltage line of the DRC national power grid.
- Backup power supply: Equipped with 4 2,000kW diesel generator sets with an automatic switching system to ensure automatic power supply startup within 10 seconds in case of grid power failure.
- Emergency power supply: Equipped with 3 500kW UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to provide emergency power for environmental control, lighting, and monitoring systems.
- Water Tower System
- A 350-cubic-meter high-level stainless steel water tower with a height of 28 meters is built.
- Equipped with an automatic water level control system and multi-stage water purification equipment to ensure stable water supply pressure and water quality safety.
- Sistema de silo de alimentación
- 4 galvanized steel plate silos with a diameter of 12 meters and a height of 25 meters are built, with a single silo capacity of 1,000 tons and a total silo capacity of 4,000 tons.
- Equipped with an automatic conveying system and a material level monitoring system to realize fully automatic feed transportation from the feed mill to the chicken houses.
- Egg Warehouse Design
- A 2,000-ton low-temperature egg warehouse is built, with temperature controlled at 12-15℃ and relative humidity at 70-75%.
- Adopts an automated three-dimensional shelf system and forklift operations, equipped with real-time temperature and humidity monitoring and alarm systems.
- Office Area Design
- Comprehensive office building: 3,200 square meters of floor area, including offices, conference rooms, reception rooms, financial rooms, and archives.
- Training center: 1,500 square meters of floor area, equipped with multimedia classrooms, practical training rooms, and remote teaching systems.
- Staff dormitories: 4,800 square meters of floor area, accommodating 220 employees, equipped with independent bathrooms, air conditioners, and water heaters.
- Biosafety Zone Design
- A 3-meter-high fence and bird-proof net are built around the site, with vehicle disinfection pools and personnel disinfection channels at the entrances and exits.
- Bathrooms and changing rooms are set at the entrance of the production area, and all personnel entering the production area must go through bathing, changing, and disinfection procedures.
- Foot disinfection basins and hand disinfection pools are set at the entrance of chicken houses, equipped with special work clothes and shoes.
- A strict vehicle management system is established: foreign vehicles are prohibited from entering the production area, and internal vehicles must be thoroughly disinfected before entry.
House Design: Intelligent Chicken Houses Adapted to Tropical Climate
In response to the tropical savanna climate characteristics of the DRC, the project adopts H-type fully enclosed intelligent layer houses specially designed for the Central African market, ensuring that the chicken flock is in the optimal growth environment at all times of the year.
Basic Parameters of Chicken Houses
- Single layer house dimensions: 120m (length) × 18m (width) × 4.8m (height)
- Stock per house: 50,000 birds
- Chicken house structure: Light steel structure, with color steel sandwich panels for the roof and color steel plates + thickened insulation layers for the walls.
- Caging system: 6-tier H-type automated layer cages with cage dimensions of 450mm×400mm×380mm, housing 4 chickens per cage.
- Stocking density: 450 square centimeters per bird, complying with EU animal welfare standards.
Core System Configurations
- Environmental Control System
- Adopts a triple cooling system of “longitudinal ventilation + wet curtain cooling + spray cooling”, with 14 1.5m axial flow fans and 200 square meters of wet curtains per chicken house.
- Equipped with real-time monitoring sensors for temperature, humidity, ammonia concentration, and carbon dioxide concentration.
- Adopts a PLC automatic control system to automatically adjust fan speed, wet curtain opening, and ventilation volume according to environmental parameters.
- A hot blast stove heating system is used in winter to ensure the chicken house temperature is stable at 18-24℃.
- Automatic Feeding System
- Adopts a traveling automatic feeder with a walking speed of 6-8 meters per minute.
- Equipped with material level sensors to realize automatic feeding and material shortage alarm.
- Feeding uniformity ≥95%, ensuring sufficient feed for each chicken.
- Automatic Drinking System
- Adopts nipple drinkers, with 1 drinker for every 4 chickens.
- Equipped with water pressure regulators and filters to ensure stable drinking water pressure and clean water quality.
- Leakage detection devices are installed to timely detect and handle water leakage problems.
- Automatic Manure Removal System
- Adopts a crawler-type automatic manure removal system, removing manure twice a day.
- The manure removal belt is made of high-strength PVC material with a service life of ≥10 years.
- Equipped with a manure conveying system to directly transport chicken manure to the manure treatment area.
- Automatic Egg Collection System
- Adopts a central egg collection system with an egg collection efficiency of ≥99.5%.
- Equipped with an egg grading device that can divide eggs into 5 grades by weight.
- A broken egg detection device is installed to automatically eliminate broken and dirty eggs.
- Lighting System
- Adopts LED energy-saving lighting with adjustable light intensity of 5-20 lux.
- Equipped with an automatic lighting control system to simulate the natural light cycle and promote egg production of the chicken flock.
- Emergency lighting system to ensure basic lighting in the chicken house during power outages.
Brooding and Rearing House Design
The project is equipped with 7 brooding and rearing houses and 2 pullet houses, adopting the same intelligent design concept as the layer houses to ensure the healthy growth of chicks and pullets.
Equipment Manufacturing: China’s Intelligent Manufacturing with Quality Assurance
All core equipment is manufactured at the production base of Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. in Weifang, China, adopting EU standards and advanced production processes to ensure equipment quality and service life. Special adaptive modifications have been made to the equipment in response to the unstable power supply and poor water quality in the DRC.
Core Equipment List
- Feed Mill Equipment
- An 180,000-ton annual output compound feed production line, including raw material cleaning, crushing, mixing, pelleting, cooling, packaging and other processes.
- Equipped with an automatic batching system with a batching accuracy of ±0.2%.
- Capable of producing different stages of feed such as layer brooding feed, rearing feed, and laying period feed.
- Specially designed processing technology adapted to local raw materials such as corn and soybeans in the DRC.
- Egg Grading and Packaging Center Equipment
- A 1 million eggs per day egg grading production line with a processing capacity of 42,000 eggs per hour.
- Equipped with fully automatic equipment for egg cleaning, drying, sterilization, detection, grading, coding, and packaging.
- Capable of producing various products such as ordinary boxed eggs, gift box eggs, and sanitized eggs.
- Manure Treatment System Equipment
- 120-ton daily chicken manure solid-liquid separation equipment, with the water content of separated dry manure ≤45%.
- Equipped with aerobic fermentation equipment, adopting a trough turner fermentation process with a fermentation cycle of 15-20 days.
- Fermented chicken manure can be directly used as organic fertilizer or further processed into organic compound fertilizer.
- Organic Fertilizer System Equipment
- A 50,000-ton annual output organic fertilizer production line, including crushing, mixing, granulation, drying, cooling, screening, packaging and other processes.
- Capable of producing various products such as powdered organic fertilizer, granular organic fertilizer, and bio-organic fertilizer.
- Products comply with DRC national standards and international organic agriculture standards.
- Biogas Power Generation System
- 2 1,200-cubic-meter anaerobic fermentation tanks are built, producing 1,800 cubic meters of biogas per day.
- Equipped with 2 60kW biogas generator sets, with an annual power generation of about 850,000 kWh.
- Biogas can be used for power generation and site domestic energy, and biogas slurry and biogas residue can be used as organic fertilizers.
Installation and Commissioning: Professional Overseas Construction Team Ensures On-Time Project Delivery
To ensure high-quality and on-time delivery of the project, Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. has assembled an experienced overseas construction team. All team members have more than 5 years of overseas project construction experience and are familiar with local laws, regulations, and construction environments in the DRC.
Core Members of the Overseas Construction Team
- Project Manager: Wang Jianguo
- 15 years of experience in the livestock engineering industry, having been responsible for multiple large-scale layer farm projects in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and other countries.
- Proficient in English and French, familiar with international engineering management processes and FIDIC contract terms.
- Fully responsible for project schedule, quality, safety, and cost control.
- Civil Engineer: Li Ming
- 12 years of civil engineering experience, having participated in multiple large-scale industrial and agricultural construction projects.
- Familiar with local construction codes and material standards in the DRC.
- Responsible for the design and construction management of all civil works such as chicken houses, feed mills, and egg warehouses.
- Electrical Engineer: Zhang Wei
- 10 years of experience in electrical automation engineering, proficient in PLC programming and electrical control system design.
- Has been responsible for the electrical system installation and commissioning of multiple large-scale automated farms.
- Responsible for the design, installation, commissioning, and training of all electrical systems of the project.
- Environmental Control Engineer: Liu Fang
- 8 years of experience in livestock environmental control engineering, proficient in chicken house environmental control system design and commissioning.
- Familiar with chicken house environmental control technology under tropical climate conditions.
- Responsible for the design, installation, commissioning, and training of all environmental control systems of the project.
- Installation Team
- Composed of 28 experienced Chinese technical workers and 65 local workers.
- All Chinese technical workers have undergone strict training and assessment and hold corresponding vocational qualification certificates.
- Local workers have received pre-job training and are familiar with equipment installation procedures and safety operation regulations.
Installation and Commissioning Process
- Phase 1 (November 2024 – July 2025): Civil engineering construction, including site leveling, foundation construction, chicken house construction, and auxiliary facility construction.
- Phase 2 (August 2025 – January 2026): Equipment installation, including caging systems, feeding systems, drinking systems, manure removal systems, egg collection systems, environmental control systems, etc.
- Phase 3 (February 2026 – March 2026): Equipment commissioning and trial operation, conducting single-machine and linkage commissioning of all equipment to ensure normal operation.
- Phase 4 (April 2026 – May 2026): Personnel training and trial production, providing comprehensive training to the client’s management and technical personnel, and conducting trial production to verify production processes and equipment performance.
Technical Support: Full Life Cycle Services Ensure Worry-Free Operation for Customers
Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. provides customers with full life cycle technical support services from pre-project consultation to post-operation maintenance, ensuring the long-term stable operation of the project.
Technical Support Service Content
- Pre-project Consultation Services
- Project feasibility study and investment analysis
- Site planning and chicken house design
- Equipment selection and configuration solutions
- Project budget and capital planning
- Construction Period Technical Services
- On-site construction guidance and quality supervision
- Equipment installation and commissioning
- Personnel training and technical disclosure
- Trial production guidance and problem solving
- Operation Period Technical Services
- 24-hour remote technical support to timely solve technical problems encountered by customers
- Quarterly on-site return visits to inspect and maintain equipment
- Provision of equipment spare parts and consumables supply services, with a spare parts warehouse set up in Lubumbashi
- Provision of breeding technical guidance and management consulting services
- Assistance with equipment upgrading and transformation
Training System
To ensure that customers can proficiently master equipment operation and breeding technology, Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. has established a comprehensive training system including theoretical and practical training.
- Theoretical Training
- Introduction to equipment working principles and structures
- Equipment operation and maintenance knowledge
- Chicken house environmental control technology
- Layer feeding and management technology
- Disease prevention and control and biosafety knowledge
- Feed nutrition and formula technology
- Practical Training
- Equipment operation and commissioning practice
- Daily equipment maintenance and upkeep practice
- Common fault troubleshooting practice
- Chicken flock feeding and management practice
- Egg collection and handling practice
Technical Documents
Upon project delivery, Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. will provide customers with complete technical documents, including:
- 3D planning drawings: Site general plan, 3D renderings of chicken houses, 3D layout drawings of each system
- Construction drawings: Civil construction drawings, electrical construction drawings, water supply and drainage construction drawings, equipment installation construction drawings
- Electrical drawings: Electrical schematic diagrams, wiring diagrams, control cabinet layout drawings
- Operation manuals: Farm operation management manual, equipment operation manual, safety operation procedures
- Training manuals: Management personnel training manual, technical personnel training manual, worker training manual
Customer Testimonials: Professional, Efficient and Trustworthy
Mr. Jean-Pierre Kasongo, Chairman of AgroGlobal Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. of the DRC, stated at the completion and commissioning ceremony: “Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. is the general contractor we selected after a global tender. Their professional capabilities, dedication, and service attitude have left a deep impression on us. Every link from design to construction to commissioning has been done excellently. The project was completed half a month ahead of schedule, and the quality fully meets our requirements. We are full of confidence in the future of the project and believe that with the technical support of Shandong Mugong, our layer farm will become the most successful modern breeding enterprise in the DRC.”
Mr. Mutshail, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said: “This project is a model of China-Congo agricultural cooperation. It not only brings advanced breeding technology and equipment to the DRC but also creates a large number of local jobs and promotes local economic development. For a long time, the DRC has faced a serious shortage of egg supply and high prices. The completion and commissioning of this project will effectively alleviate this situation, allowing more Congolese people to eat cheap and high-quality eggs. We hope to have more such cooperation projects in the future to jointly promote the agricultural modernization process of the DRC.”
The Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stated: “As a leading enterprise in China’s livestock equipment industry, Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. has successfully built this 1 million layers layer farm project in the DRC, demonstrating the technical strength and brand image of Chinese enterprises. We will continue to support Chinese enterprises in carrying out agricultural cooperation in the DRC and make greater contributions to the friendly relations and economic development of China and the DRC.”
Project Significance: Boosting Food Security in Central Africa and Promoting Agricultural Modernization
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second-largest country in Africa by area and the fourth most populous, with abundant natural resources and agricultural development potential. However, due to long-term wars and backward technology, its agricultural production level is low, and livestock products such as eggs are heavily dependent on imports with high prices. The completion and commissioning of Shandong Mugong’s 1 million layers layer farm project in the DRC will effectively alleviate the tight egg supply in the DRC, reduce egg prices, and enable more Congolese people to access affordable and high-quality eggs.
At the same time, the project will bring advanced breeding technology and management experience, train a group of local breeding technical and management talents, and promote the modernization process of the DRC’s layer farming industry. The full industrial chain model of “breeding + feed + egg processing + manure treatment + organic fertilizer production” adopted by the project realizes resource recycling and sustainable development, providing a replicable and scalable model for the sustainable development of agriculture in Central Africa.
In the future, Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. will continue to adhere to the development concepts of “innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing”, continuously improve technical levels and service quality, provide global customers with higher-quality livestock equipment and solutions, and make greater contributions to promoting global agricultural modernization and food security.
Acerca de Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co.
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Weifang, Shandong Province, China, Shandong Mugong Farming Equipment Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the R&D, production, sales, and service of modern livestock equipment. The company has a modern production base and a professional R&D team. Its products cover multiple series such as layer caging equipment, broiler caging equipment, brooding and rearing equipment, feed processing equipment, egg processing equipment, and manure treatment equipment, which are exported to more than 80 countries and regions around the world.
The company has always adhered to the business philosophy of “Quality First, Customer Supreme” and is committed to providing customers with one-stop turnkey engineering services, offering comprehensive solutions from project planning, design, equipment manufacturing, installation and commissioning to personnel training and technical support. The company has an experienced overseas construction team and technical service team, which can provide timely and professional services to customers to ensure the smooth implementation and long-term stable operation of projects.
Contact Information:
- China Headquarters: Mugong Industrial Park, Anqiu City, Weifang City, Shandong Province
- Tel: +86-13361449578
- Email: peter@poultryequipmentmanufacturers.com
- DRC Branch: No. 12, Kafue Industrial Zone, Lubumbashi City, Haut-Katanga Province
- Tel: +243-810-888888
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