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Chicco’s Chicken, the hen house

Michelline Nawatises



Chicco’s Chicken is a poultry-rearing company with the purpose of producing affordable, nutritional and good quality tabled eggs for Namibian households.

Toivo Thomas is the director and co-founder of Chicco’s Investment cc, along with two other Namibians Jeremiah and Tupohole Andreas.

Thomas has academic experience in the fields of agriculture, ecology and medical biology and his background includes being raised in an orphanage by Brenda Johnston, an American missionary, in Namibia. It was there that his interest in biology was kindled.

Showing potential as a young boy, a group of financial sponsors provided an opportunity for him to pursue a better-than-average education. With their support he was able pursue a biology degree in the United States. During the course of his four years of study at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, he developed an interest in poultry farming while doing an internship at a free-range farm.

Once he returned back home from his studies in 2015 he co-founded an insect-rearing company, Agricycle Namibia, which aims is to reuse, reduce and convert organic waste into a nutritional protein source that can be used as an additive in animal feed for monogastric animals like pigs, fish and chickens.

In the year 2017, Thomas, along with his business partners, founded Chicco’s Investment cc trading as Chicco’s Chicken.

Thomas is the head of operations at the Chicco’s Chicken poultry farm outside Okahandja. He is assisted by three full-time staff members who assists with day-to-day operations such as ensuring birds have access to feed and water and that they utilise biosecurity measures.

He also assists with collecting of eggs, waste management and most importantly maintains the high standards of animal welfare.

The biggest challenge in his career so far is the lack of Namibian standards and regulations to clearly guide and direct the poultry industry.

“Namibia is a young country and is still catching up with the world when it comes to innovation. However, we are not willing to pioneer in a field, but would rather want to see a method tried and tested before implementation,” Thomas says.

He has taken part in several national and international entrepreneurship competitions in which he has either been a finalist or winner.

These include the African Entrepreneurship Award held in Morocco (finalist), the Total Startupper of the Year (third place), the National Commission Research Science and Technology Innovation Award (winner), the Development Bank of Namibia Innovation Award (finalist), the Namibian Business Innovation Institute Business Plan competition (third place) and the NEPAD Southern African Network for Biosciences in Botswana competition (finalist).

Thomas’ days starts with the team attending to the hens at O6:00. This is followed by egg collection, packing and storage.

The day ends with administration and paperwork. His passion is science.

“I like to research and experimenting with new ideas. One can always learn, and comfort is kryptonite to innovation and growth, and I get my greatest inspiration from underdog stories,” he says.

When asked by Careers what advice he can give to aspiring young people out there, he mentioned that he lives by the mantra ‘simple living, high thinking’.

“One should remember that Rome was not built in one day and in business one should grow sustainably,” he adds.

Chicco’s Chicken seeks to play an integral role in the development of Namibia, especially in the agri-business sector. It wants to be a household name in the Namibian food industry.