By a Correspondent
Zimbabwe’s poultry industry is facing fresh scrutiny after an investigation uncovered allegations that some farmers are illegally feeding human antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to chickens in a controversial bid to accelerate growth, reduce deaths and boost profits.
The revelations have raised serious questions about food safety, the possible diversion of life-saving HIV medicines and the risk of drug residues entering Zimbabwe’s food chain.
An investigation by the Southern Africa Accountability Journalism Project, published by South African news outlets, found that some poultry farmers were allegedly obtaining ARVs through illicit channels before mixing the drugs into chicken feed or drinking water.
Zimbabwe’s Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act prohibits the use of medicines intended for humans in food-producing animals unless specifically authorised by the relevant authorities.
According to the investigation, the farmers believe the drugs help chickens survive disease outbreaks and reach market weight faster, allowing them to reduce production costs and increase the number of birds they raise each year.
One farmer, identified by the pseudonym Jane, reportedly admitted using TLD — a combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir — after losing large numbers of chickens to disease.
“I get my monthly supply from the health official who has a network of peddlers who handle the business on his behalf,” she was quoted as saying by a South African media outlet.
She reportedly held up a small, empty blue bottle that had contained the ARVs she bought from the official.
“My first interaction with the official was when a fellow farmer introduced me to him. I paid a deposit to show that I was serious about making a purchase from him,” she added.
“He then directed me to his peddler found at Copacabana, a local bus terminus in the Harare CBD, who requested a code which I supplied, and I was given my stash of ARVs.”
Jane said drug peddlers often use coded words or phrases when communicating with buyers. The codes, which can consist of random names, letters or numbers, are relayed at collection points and frequently changed to avoid detection.
She said her initial motivation was not to stimulate unnatural growth in her chickens but to reduce deaths caused by common poultry diseases.
“Mortality was eating my profits. Newcastle disease would sweep through, and I was losing half my birds in some cycles. There was no money left for school fees,” she said.
After hearing about her difficulties at a poultry workshop in Harare, a fellow farmer visited her farm in Waterfalls and offered to help for a fee of $100, paid in two instalments.
The farmer supplied her with TLD, a once-daily fixed-dose combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir recommended for adults and adolescents living with HIV. The regimen is widely used as a first-line treatment for people living with HIV in Zimbabwe.
Jane said she began crushing the tablets and mixing them into her chickens’ feed and drinking water.
“The mortality rate plummeted, and my broiler chickens grew faster. I have since expanded my operation from 200 to 10,000 birds per cycle (over about two years). And, instead of waiting six weeks, I could sell them (for slaughter) at just four weeks,” she added.
She claimed the practice dramatically reduced deaths among her birds while shortening the time needed to raise them for slaughter.
However, the claims have raised alarm among health and veterinary experts, who warn that human medicines should not be administered to food-producing animals without regulatory approval and scientific evidence.
There is no established scientific evidence that ARVs are safe or effective as growth promoters in poultry.
The allegations are particularly sensitive in Zimbabwe, where thousands of people living with HIV rely on uninterrupted access to ARVs to keep the virus under control.
The possibility that medicines intended for HIV treatment could be diverted into the poultry industry has raised concerns about the country’s already stretched health system and the potential impact on vulnerable patients.
The investigation reportedly found that some farmers were able to access ARVs through informal and illegal supply networks.
If confirmed, such a trade could point to serious weaknesses in the control and distribution of medicines, raising questions about how drugs intended for public health programmes are reaching commercial poultry operations.
The alleged practice also presents a potential food safety concern.
Experts have warned that medicines administered to food-producing animals can leave residues in meat if appropriate controls and withdrawal periods are not followed.
While there is limited evidence that eating chicken containing ARV residues would directly cause HIV treatment failure or drug resistance, experts say the uncontrolled use of medicines in animals warrants urgent investigation.
The allegations also come against the backdrop of a growing global battle against drug resistance. The inappropriate use of medicines in animals can contribute to the emergence of resistant organisms, potentially making infections harder to treat.
Zimbabwe’s poultry farmers are under increasing pressure to keep production costs down amid high feed prices, disease outbreaks and intense competition.
For small-scale farmers operating on thin margins, reducing bird deaths or shaving even a few days off the production cycle can make a significant difference to profitability.
But the alleged use of ARVs exposes the darker side of an industry under economic pressure and raises questions about what desperate farmers may be prepared to do to survive.
The reported practice is also illegal under Zimbabwean law, which restricts the use of medicines intended for humans in food-producing animals without the required regulatory approval.
The allegations therefore raise the prospect of possible regulatory failures involving government agencies responsible for medicines, agriculture, veterinary services and food safety.
The investigations did not establish the scale of the alleged use of ARVs across Zimbabwe’s poultry sector, nor did they provide evidence that all poultry produced by farmers using the drugs had entered the formal food supply.
However, the allegations are serious enough to warrant a comprehensive investigation by Zimbabwean authorities.
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development and other relevant agencies could face growing pressure to establish whether ARVs are being diverted from legitimate HIV treatment programmes and used in livestock production.
Authorities may also need to investigate whether poultry products containing pharmaceutical residues are reaching consumers through formal markets, informal traders and roadside outlets.
The controversy comes at a time when Zimbabwe is battling to protect its food systems while ensuring access to affordable and safe sources of protein for a population facing persistent economic pressures.
For consumers, the allegations raise an uncomfortable question about what exactly is behind the chicken on their plates.
For the poultry industry, they threaten to deepen concerns about regulatory oversight and farming practices.
And for Zimbabwe’s HIV programme, the reported diversion of ARVs into the poultry sector, if confirmed, would represent a disturbing misuse of medicines intended to save human lives.
The government has yet to publicly respond to the allegations detailed in the investigations.
The findings now put the spotlight firmly on Zimbabwean authorities to determine whether the alleged practice is isolated or part of a wider, largely hidden problem — and whether consumers have been unknowingly exposed to poultry raised using medicines never intended for animals.
