May 11, 2021

 

Poultry farmers in Cameroon call on Europe to loosen trade restrictions

 

 

Cameroon's poultry farmers and sellers are urging authorities in the country and in Europe to ease trade restrictions implemented due to COVID-19 concerns and avian influenza, which have more than doubled the price of chicken.

 

Scores of chicken sellers in Cameroon's capital held a one-hour sit-in on last week at a chicken market to protest the continued restrictions, which have pushed all but about 25 sellers — out of 300 last year — out of business.

 

François Djonou, president of Cameroon's Interprofessional Association of Poultry Farmers, said European countries and Cameroon reduced commercial flights to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The poultry shortage was further aggravated in November 2020 when the European Commission reported that multiple European countries had outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

 

As a precaution, Cameroon banned the import of chicks and hatching eggs from Europe. However, the avian influenza outbreak has since eased.

 

Cameroon's chicken sellers are pleading with authorities on both sides to drop the trade restrictions, as they are creating a scarcity of chicken and driving up prices in the region.

 

Since January 2021, the retail cost of 1.5 kilogrammes of chicken has jumped from $5 to $12 in Cameroon, and up to $15 in neighboring Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which import from Cameroon.

 

The poultry farmers group said the situation has forced more than a third of Central Africa's 45,000 large- and small-scale chicken farmers and sellers out of business.

 

The group said regional production cannot keep up with demand. Central African states provide less than 20 million of the 150 million chickens needed in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, according to the group.

 

Meanwhile, Cameroon Livestock Ministry official Denise Abanda said they are negotiating to import eggs and chicks from Brazil.

 

"The importation of chicks and eggs from Brazil can be justified by the fact that the national poultry sector, which imports chicks and eggs from Europe, has difficulties to supply the local market with day-old chicks," Abanda said. "So, the decision of the ministry is to find another partner from Brazil to supply the local market."

 

Abanda said Brazil can provide the quantity of eggs and chicks that Cameroon needs.

 

- Voice of America