By Alpha Ngunyale (Executive Secretary at Tanzania Commercial Poultry Association)
The Tanzanian poultry industry has faced numerous challenges, particularly from cheap imports and illegal importation. These issues have threatened the survival of local poultry farmers and investors despite significant strides in production capacity and infrastructure.
To ensure the industry’s future, the government and stakeholders must intervene and reduce operational costs, making Tanzania’s poultry sector competitive not only within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) but also globally.
This would make poultry products more affordable for Tanzanians and position the country to export regionally, attracting more foreign exchange and investments.
Historical Journey through the Challenges
In March 2005, Tanzania faced a significant challenge when Brazilian chicken flooded the market, taking advantage of a bird flu-induced ban on South African poultry. These imports, priced aggressively at Tsh2,000 ($2), undercut local chickens significantly. The government’s advice to farmers was clear yet daunting: improve quality to compete in Tanzania’s fiercely liberalised market. This event highlighted the urgent need for more robust regulatory frameworks to monitor import quality and combat dumping.
By June 2006, Tanzania implemented a total ban on poultry imports to protect the nation from bird flu, following World Health Organization guidelines. This bold move aimed to create capacity for the local poultry industry. The protective stance continued in June 2016 with a ban on imports of chicks and fresh poultry meat from select countries, shielding local farmers from unfair foreign competition.
The global dimension of these challenges was underscored in July 2017 when the United States pressured Tanzania to lift its poultry import ban, citing World Trade Organization standards. Tanzania’s commitment to safeguarding its poultry industry was evident when thousands of illegally imported chicks were destroyed at the borders in November 2017 and February 2018.
As recently as July 2022, the government reiterated its protective stance by banning day-old chick imports, aiming to protect local hatcheries from substandard goods. However, international pressures persisted. In October 2023 and November 2023, Poland sought to enter the Tanzanian market, revealing ongoing global interest in this lucrative sector.
By April 2024, a significant breakthrough occurred when Kenya and Tanzania resolved longstanding poultry trade disputes during a meeting at the East African Community headquarters in Arusha, committing to seamless trade between the two countries.
Current State of the Poultry Sector
Despite numerous challenges, Tanzania’s poultry sector has experienced substantial growth. Overall, the total chicken population in Tanzania grew at a CAGR of approximately 6.18% per year from 2017/2018 to 2023/2024. For local chickens was approximately 4.01% per year, and 8.31% per year for exotic chickens (layers and broilers). By 2019, the number of exotic chickens surpassed local chickens, and by 2023, exotic chicken numbers reached 55.7 million, accounting for 54% of the total chicken population.
Day-old chick production has also grown at a CAGR of approximately 13.420% annually for the previous five years, reaching 95.5 million day-old chicks in 2023 (The majority of which are broilers and dual-purpose).
Key statistics from 2023 reflect this growth, MoLF 2023/2024
- Poultry Meat Production: Reached 132,442 metric tons.
- Egg Production: Hit 6.41 billion eggs.
- Per capita consumption: 107 eggs/person/year and 2.07 kg/person /year for eggs and poultry meat respectively.
- Infrastructure Growth: The country now boasts 28 hatcheries, 25 breeder farms, one grandparent farm, and over 215 poultry feed manufacturing companies.
- Investment: The sector has attracted over $ 200 Million in investments across the value chain
Despite these impressive developments, the poultry sector in Tanzania is not fully safeguarded. Gaps in enforcement and legal frameworks have left the industry vulnerable to cheap imports, which have caused significant financial losses for local farmers and investors.
The influx of low-cost poultry products from countries with lower production costs has undermined local prices, making it difficult for Tanzanian farmers and investors to compete. This has led to reduced income and, in some cases, the closure of local poultry businesses.
An investor recently shared their experience of imports from Malawi Flooding the Tanzania local market.
This is my fear – we have lived in this yoyo situation for the last 30 years! Importation of chicks, knock the breeders! We were producing over 150,000 broiler chicks a week, but due to imported chicks from Malawi, which were cheaper because their maize and soya meals was half the price of ours, we were being left with around 100,000 unsold chicks every week! We cut down to 50,000 which seemed to be a safe number but started to increase production when the price of maize fell. ….
The high cost of feed remains a significant challenge, influenced by volatile prices of key raw materials such as maize and soybean meal; the most recent report by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) published in October 2021 suggested that Cutting feed prices by 25% would align the Tanzania poultry industry with South African levels further showing the potential of our resilient industry.
The Tanzanian poultry industry has demonstrated remarkable resilience and expansion, despite ongoing challenges like cheap imports and illegal importation. To enhance its competitiveness on a regional scale, it’s imperative for the government (Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and Ministry of Agriculture) and stakeholders to actively intervene.
- A key strategy for empowering the sector involves reducing operational expenses, particularly the costs associated with poultry feed and raw materials, which account for over 70% of the total production cost. This adjustment would make poultry products more accessible, and affordable for local consumers and sharpen Tanzania’s competitive edge.
- Establishing a strategic reserve for the poultry sector could serve as a critical mechanism to stabilize market conditions. This reserve would provide a safeguard against the unpredictability of feed prices and market fluctuations, ensuring consistent supply and helping to stabilize prices for producers and feed manufacturers.
- Increase domestic production of imported feed raw materials such as Soya, supplements and additives to ensure affordable and local supply.
It’s important that we shift our focus to producing efficiently and competitively by using our collective power to influence decisions and make the necessary changes to save the local poultry sector of Tanzania.
