May 6, 2013

Gaza halts chicken imports from Egypt

As local shortages have eased, Gaza's Ministry of Agriculture halted the import of chicken from Egypt.

The ministry began importing chicken from Egypt in April for the first time in 10 years due to critical shortages in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the ministry's marketing department Tahseen al-Saqqa said the imports would stop as locally-produced supplies were available in Gaza again.

Al-Saqqa said the crisis in April was caused by Israel's repeated closures of its border with Gaza, explaining that around three million hatching eggs were usually imported from Israel, the West Bank and abroad every month, providing around two million chickens.

As a result of the closures, fewer eggs were imported leading to increase in prices and a chicken shortage.