Southern Mozambique may be facing chicken shortage, price hike

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Southern Mozambique may be facing chicken shortage, price hike

9:08 CAT | 29 Jun 2017

Southern Mozambique is likely to face a shortage of chickens in the near future, following a ban on the import of poultry produce from South Africa.

The ban was imposed in the wake of an outbreak of bird flu in the eastern South Africa in province of Mpumalanga. It follows a ban three weeks ago on the import of poultry from Zimbabwe which is also faced with a bird flu epidemic.

Bird flu is easily transmitted from one poultry farm to another by contaminated equipment, vehicles, clothing and chicken feed. The worst strains of the disease kill 100 per cent of the infected birds.

The Mozambican Association of Poultry Producers (AMA) told AIM on Wednesday that the ban on the import of fertile eggs and of chicks from South Africa could have a serious impact, causing a decline in the supply of chickens and consequently a rise in prices.

Currently the demand for chicken meat in Mozambique is about 80,000 tonnes a year, predicted to rise to 97,000 tonnes by 2019. Mozambican producers are able to supply 70,000 tonnes.

The problem for producers, according to Loko Roger, the executive secretary of AMA, is that much of that 70,000 tonnes depends on eggs and chicks imported from South Africa.

He said that, if the ban lasts more than three weeks, there could be a significant reduction in the supply of chickens to consumers, putting pressure on prices. The southern poultry producers needed an alternative source of fertile eggs and chicks.

In other parts of the country the situation is not so bad. In northern Mozambique the company Novos Horizontes produces fertile eggs and chicks locally, and is thus unaffected by the South African bird flu outbreak. There is also a producer in central Mozambique, to date apparently unaffected by the outbreak in Zimbabwe.

Roger said that while it might be possible to source supplies from Zambia, Mauritius or even Brazil, the greater distances would certainly affect the price.

The National Veterinary Director in the Agriculture Ministry, Americo da Conceicao, said that, after the confirmation of the outbreak in Mpumulanga, the Mozambican authorities have been collecting samples from all poultry producers who have imported eggs and chicks from South Africa, to ensure that they are free from the disease. He expected the results to be known on Thursday.

Conceicao said the authorities have stepped up controls on all poultry products entering the country from South Africa, Anybody bringing any chicken derivatives into the country, he said, “must show an import licence and a certificate issued by the South African authorities”.

Source: AIM