(Business in Cameroon) - Q2-2021 will be a tough quarter for livestock producers in Cameroon. This is the recent forecast published by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) in its Q2-2021 business cycle analysis.

Based on answers of the actors surveyed for the elaboration of the business cycle analysis, the BEAC forecasts gloomy prospects for the livestock sector. According to the central bank, in Cameroon (as well as the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea), the sector will be affected by the security situation, the scarcity of inputs and phytosanitary products as well as pasture degradation.

In Cameroon, "the main problems facing the sector, notably pastoral conflicts, the shrinkage [of grazing areas] and pasture degradation, the high cost of veterinary products, the insufficient production of day-old chicks in the western region, the negative impact of bird flu on operations and the high cost of inputs, would weigh further on the activity in the second quarter of 2021," the report reads. 

Recently, Cameroon authorized the importation of poultry products like hatching eggs and other day-old chicks from Brazil to make up for the shortage of the products. Not long ago, Cameroon banned the importation of poultry products from Europe and Asia (for several months) because of a new avian flu epizootic in those countries. Cameroon’s poultry production declined because of the import ban, however.

Despite the authorizations of imports of products from Brazil, the delivery delays may not improve the situation in the Cameroonian poultry sector in Q2-2021. So, the prices of meat products will likely rise. Housewives are already reporting rises in the prices of poultry products.

BRM