August 4, 2010
Egg price hikes threaten Cameroon
Cameroon's current egg prices have risen the highest in four years on account of bird flu outbreak and further inflation is feared.
Eggs have undergone dramatic price hikes in Douala owing to a decrease in production and feed price hikes. With the rising feed prices poultry farmers are passing the increases straight on to consumers. Douala low-income families have felt the strongest punch as an increasing number of structures, ranging from cafeterias through restaurants to mobile canteens have raised egg prices.
Before May 2010, the price of an egg ranged between XAF55 (US$0.11) and XAF75 (US$0.15), but from May until present the price of an egg has soared to between XAF70 (US$0.14) and XAF100 (US$0.20). A tray of eggs now sells at XAF2100-2250 (US$4.23-4.53) up from XAF1600-1700 (US$3.22-3.42) last May. The current trend is the highest monthly rise after the bird flu outbreak in 2006, an analyst said.
The Secretary General of Inter-Professional Poultry of Cameroon, Francois Djonou, imputed the scarcity to dwindling government subvention to farmers, especially after the bird flu, the closing of poultries by farmers as a result of the 2009 global financial crisis, and the surge in corn prices last year. "Poultry should now be more viable with the drop in corn to XAF150 (US$0.30)/kg this year from XAF250 (US$0.50)/kg last year and gradual shifting away of the sector from the effects of the world financial crunch," said Djonou.
Mrs. Sam Vandoline, poultry farmer at Makepe, said she had to quit the poultry farming last June due to unavoidable financial crisis. She warned that cheaper eggs don't necessarily mean better value; "It's up to people, whether they want to gorge themselves on cheap product or indulge in something more expensive but better quality," Vandoline said. To her, increase in demand in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Chad drove up local consumer expenditure on this natural ingredient two months earlier.
The egg price increases are likely to "exert further upward pressure on headline inflation in the coming months. But their impact is not likely to persist given that the supply of eggs will gradually rise and prices should stabilise. The government should gradually raise subsidies for poultry farmers and grant a period of tax exoneration. The positive side of the hikes is that Douala farmers could benefit from increased income. The fluctuation stresses that overall food demand and supply are in a balance," said Dr Bruno Jean-Pierre, Chief Economist, in Douala.
