March 31, 2006

Lebanon's poultry sector declines by 50 percent due to bird flu

Lebanon's poultry sector has declined by 50 percent since January because of a widespread fear that bird flu has reached Lebanon.

While most of the attention has been on the plight of small poultry breeders who have seen a sharp drop in local consumption, many of Lebanon's largest poultry processors are saying that they will soon feel the impact if the situation does not improve.

Every link in the poultry sector's chain of production has suffered from the bird flu crisis, said Arslan Sinno, President of the Lebanese Syndicate of Agriculture and the Dora Flour Mills.

Sinno sells grain to local feed producers and said orders from them have gone down. In fact, the feed producers have no facilities to store their excess grain in.

While most poultry farmers are reluctant to reveal the number of workers they have laid off because of the crisis, Jean al-Hawa the President of the Lebanese Poultry Syndicate and the Al-Hawa company said he has let most of his part-time staff go.

Al-Hawa estimated that rural poultry breeders have lost about US$5 million since the crisis while poultry processors have lost some US$30 million.

He said if the situation does not improve, he will be forced to lay off half of his 1,200-strong workforce. He added that currently, he has no choice but to cut production levels by 50 percent in reaction to the same decline in demand.