A ban on the import of soya meal, meant to promote local production, pushed prices up by 67 percent last year, from $450 per tonne to $750 per tonne.
This resulted in an increase in input costs for livestock producers, which pushed the price of chicken meat on the local market.
The wholesale price of chicken went up from $2,80 per kilogramme in December 2016 to $3,75 per kilogramme in December 2017.
The increase in costs reduced demand from low income consumers, who are traditionally the largest market segment in terms of sales.
A report by the Zimbabwe Poultry Association (ZPA) indicates that the rising cost of chicken meat and eggs during the last quarter of 2017 was linked to the ban on soya meal imports and shortages in production of day old chicks due to an outbreak of Avian Flu.
The most affected have been smallholder poultry farmers, who normally account for 60 percent of poultry meat production.
The shortage of soya meal on the market is also partly due to the limited foreign currency allocation for procuring soya beans on regional markets, where prices are at $350 per tonne.
Before the ban, Zimbabwe imported approximately 80 000 tonnes of soya meal annually from Zambia and South Africa.
“The policy that imported soya beans must be free from genetic modification has also added to their landed cost. The loss of poultry breeding capacity was worsened by the ban on imports of hatching eggs from South Africa where several outbreaks of Avian Influenza have been recorded. 
“The poultry industry was given a reprieve of six months on the duty of 40 percent to import hatching eggs from Europe and South America to rebuild capacity,” the ZPA report said.
Compared to 2016, the shortage of day old chicks was driven by the decline of 27 percent in imports of hatching eggs and the high landed cost of $45 per 100 hatching eggs compared to $30 for the same number of eggs in 2016.
The report says in 2016, locally produced day old chicks were selling at $65 per 100 chicks, but currently, the cost of hatching eggs has increased the price by almost 70 percent to $110 per 100 chicks.
“High transport costs from European and South American sources as well as the limited supply of imported eggs because of foreign currency constraints has led to an increase in the price of day old chickens,” the ZPA said.
The poultry industry is yet to recover from the impact of the outbreak of Avian Flu which adversely affected the production and supply of day old chicks, broiler meat and eggs onto the market in the second half of 2017.
The rise in soya meal prices also impacted on the pig industry. The cost of stockfeeds has increased significantly, driven by import cost of soya meal and additives.
The rising pork prices are being spurred by increased costs of production, primarily due to supply factors. 
Commercial pork production over the first 10 months of 2017 declined by nine percent from 
139 000 tonnes produced in 2016 to 128 000 tonnes in 2017.
In December 2017, pork producer prices were $4,60/kg for dressed weight compared to $2,70/kg in 2016. Wholesale prices were $5,20/kg, reflecting a wholesale price gross margin of 13 percent.
Retail prices in the major supermarkets range from $8,50 for fresh pork shoulders, to $19,30 for different cuts. Retail margins are as high as 45 percent.
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