The Stakes Are High!

The enormous losses incurred by poultry farmers following the Avian Flu Influenza outbreak are telling of the urgency to restructure the sector.

The poultry sector is in ruins with stakeholders struggling to keep afloat following heavy losses incurred from three-months of inactivity caused by the outbreak of Avian Flu Influenza. This was a period of near-suicide for farmers and value chain actors, with some abandoning the line of business.

Information from the Cameroon Poultry Interprofession Organisation, IPAVIC, reveals that the sector suffered losses estimated at FCFA 16 billion, with over 4 million of birds of the over 7.5 million reportedly dead from poor feeding or sold out. So worrisome is the disappearance of broilers/chicks from markets and farms, the organisation states. Projections for the production of broilers was evaluated at 50 million, with Francois Djonou, the President of IPAVIC regretting that output will not even hit 30 million. This is telling of the magnitude of the crisis, with stakeholders stressing that two million day-old chicks are required to meet demand for effective table bird production by the end of the year.

Poultry farmers have stated inter-alia that restructuring the sector entails the availability of enough maize for chicken feed. Maize counts for 65 per cent of feed and over 20,000 metric tonnes are required to revive the sector nation-wide. With over 17,000 tonnes required for the Centre and West Regions alone. This notwithstanding, the supply for maize is limited, with sector actors counting on government f to allow for imports of over 17,000 tonnes to make up for deficit. A complete overhaul of the industry however depends ...