EGYPT – Egypt’s poultry farmers are facing significant financial difficulties for the second consecutive season, largely due to a government policy that has allowed a sharp rise in frozen chicken imports. 

According to Tharwat Al-Zaini, Vice President of the Egyptian Poultry Producers Union, these imports have led to an average loss of about 7 Egyptian pounds (US$0.14) per kilogram of live chicken, putting the future of Egypt’s poultry sector at risk.

Official reports show that Egypt’s chicken meat production is expected to hit 1.59 million tonnes in 2023. 

Between 2010 and 2019, the country almost doubled its poultry production. 

However, this growth has stalled over the last five years.

In June 2023, the Egyptian government temporarily removed tariffs on frozen chicken imports, a move that has mainly benefitted Brazilian poultry exporters. 

Local sources indicate that Brazil alone shipped around 200,000 tonnes of poultry to Egypt last year, contributing heavily to the country’s overall imports. 

Other countries supplying poultry to Egypt include Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States.

Currently, the production cost for broiler chicken in Egypt is around 74 Egyptian pounds (US$1.50) per kilogram, while imported frozen chicken is priced at approximately 66 Egyptian pounds (US$1.36) per kilogram. 

Despite daily price fluctuations, imported chicken remains consistently cheaper than domestically produced poultry, Al-Zaini confirmed.

In an effort to address the ongoing crisis in the poultry sector, Egypt’s government has been trying to introduce new measures. 

The Electricity and Agriculture Ministers have announced plans to install solar panels on poultry farms across the country. 

This initiative aims to reduce energy costs and alleviate some of the financial pressure on local farmers.

A meeting at the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy’s headquarters in Alamein, attended by Electricity Minister Mahmoud Essmat and Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk, along with other top officials, focused on improving the electricity supply to poultry farms. 

Discussions centered around ensuring farms meet regulatory standards while proposing new strategies to support the sector.

As part of Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly’s wider efforts to ensure reliable electricity access for poultry operations, the ministers discussed the distribution of power sources for farms located in various governorates. 

Egypt’s poultry industry includes 10,731 licensed farms out of a total of 60,000 entities, with investments amounting to 100 billion Egyptian pounds (US$5.09 billion). 

In 2021, the sector produced 1.5 billion broilers and 13 billion table eggs.

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