Eggs, chicken shortages to persist

ZIMBABWE’s eggs and chicken shortages are expected to persist until the end of the year as the sector is recovering at a slower pace than the meat sector, the Zimbabwe Poultry Association (ZPA) said.
The southern African nation is still recovering from the effects of a single outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) a year ago, which occurred on the largest poultry breeder operation in the country.
This disrupted production across the industry and resulted in shortages of meat and eggs.
“Increased broiler meat supply in the first quarter of 2018 has led to significant stock build-up and it is expected that wholesale prices will remain depressed. However, persistent AI outbreaks in South Africa and an expected post-harvest increase in demand for day old chicks in Zambia will limit supply of imported hatching eggs to Zimbabwe. zThis will increase reliance on non-SADC imports of hatching eggs until the end of the year when local production is expected to recover to pre-AI levels,” ZPA said in a May update.
Projections are that local production of eggs will remain depressed until the last quarter of 2018, necessitating the continued high dependence on imported hatching eggs to satisfy demand for day-old chicks from local poultry farmers.
“Recovery of the egg market however, will take much longer as investments in layer breeding birds — though positive — have not been at levels accomplished in the broiler sector. It is expected therefore, that prices will remain high in the second to third quarter,” ZPA added.
The industry is against the importation of table eggs to increase supply given the existing threat of AI in the region. Wholesale prices of table eggs increased from a low of $2,86 per tray of 30 eggs in November 2016 and stabilised at $4,50 per tray in the first quarter of 2018.
“Total layer breeding stock dropped from 48 000 in July to 22 000 in August 2017 because of destocking measures to contain the flu,” the report said.
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