(Business in Cameroon) - Currently, there is a shortage of broilers in Cameroonian markets. As a result, the few that can be found are sold at XAF5,000, against XAF3,500 previously. To justify such price hike, poultry farmers point at the difficulties faced by hatchery operators to import hatching eggs and day old chicks.

“Currently, the main producers of these poducts are under the avian flu threat. This problem was worsened by the fund transfer difficulties at the central bank, according to what bankers told us,” François Djonou , president of the Cameroonian Poultry Interprofessional Organization (IPAVIC), told government daily Cameroon tribune.

In March 2021, the Cameroonian government authorized the importation of avian products from Brazil, considered as free from the avian flu. However, the importations have not started, François Djonou says. He adds that local poultry farmers have received products from Morocco and Turkey, thanks to which the local offer could rise by mid-July 2021.

The supply difficulties experienced in the avian sector could reduce the industry’s contribution to meat production in the country. In 2019, the poultry industry contributed 71% of the country’s meat production, far ahead of cattle farming, according to a study on the strategic positiosing of the fish and meat industries published by the Enterprises Upgrading Office of Cameroon (BMN).

BRM