STRATEGY ▶▶▶
day-old chick production, a 35-40% reduction in poultry feed production and a 40-50% reduction in the sale of medi- cines and other pharmaceutical products. In April one hatch- ery manager told the researchers: “The market price of day-old chicks has dropped below the production cost. Now, the selling price for day-old chicks is BDT4-5 (US$ 0.047- 0.05), while it was around 35BDT (US$ 0.4) before COVID-19. Our production cost is around BDT30-32 (US$ 0.36-0.38). So, we had to reduce day-old chick production from 13 million a week to 7.5-8 million”.
Price fluctuations Since the pandemic, farm eggs have been selling at up to BDT4-5.5 (US$ 0.046-0.065) each at farm level in Bangladesh, against production costs of at least BDT6 (US$ 0.07). The av- erage price of a farm egg was BDT7-8 (US$ 0.08-0.09) before the pandemic. The production cost per kilo of broiler meat was BDT95-100 (US$ 1.17-1.18) while post-pandemic farmers had to sell wholesale for only BDT65-70 (US$ 0.77-0.80). Farmers who run their farms by taking credit from the feed dealers have fallen deeper into debt. Local newspapers have reported that prices of both chicken eggs and meat hit a 12- year low in April. The Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) is expecting the supply and demand mis- match for poultry to continue for a minimum of six months. In the second week of May, the price of poultrymeat and eggs increased as a result of supply disruptions and demand for the Eid-ul-Fitre (one of the biggest Muslim festivals) and, according to the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangla- desh (TCB), chicken broiler prices increased by an average of 45% in the four days between 20-23 May as Bangladeshi poultry producers had stopped production in March and April due to low demand. All of which had worsened the sit- uation. Such rapid price fluctuations for poultrymeat and
38 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 8, 2020
eggs are making it increasingly difficult for farmers and traders to cope with the crisis.
Livelihoods threatened The current situation is seriously undermining the livelihoods of Bangladesh’s millions of backyard poultry farmers and small traders. About 90% of rural Bangladeshi households keep poul- try, the practice being recognised as a major route out of pov- erty, particularly for poor, landless women. In April, BPICC an- ticipated that with no improvement in the COVID-19 situation, more than two million people in the poultry industry would become unemployed in the next couple of months. The Bangladesh government has acted to support the coun- try’s farmers with measures during the period of the pandemic, including support from the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoFL) for the distribution and marketing of eggs and poultry, along with MoLF support for the early release of imported poultry feed materials and pharmaceutical products from the docks. The government has also announced a stimulus package of Tk5,000 crore (US$ 595 million) to provide financial assistance to small and medium-sized farmers in rural areas to boost agricultural production further to the fallout caused by COVID-19. However, government support alone will not be sufficient to repair the damage suffered by farmers, while there are also complexities linked to the implementation of the stimulus package. A simple but efficient way for farmers to benefit from the package needs to be put in place. Large poultry companies and UN organisations should also come forward. There are no quick solutions to the challenges faced by the poultry sector in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. The One Health Poultry Hub Bangladesh believes that what the sector now needs is a short, medium and long-term plan to tackle the crisis.
With some help from NGO Dwip Unnayan Songs- tha (DUS), poul- try farmer Res- ma Begum
made a good liv- ing from poul- try. COVID-19 has put a severe strain on earnings in Bangladesh.
PHOTO: ANP/G.M.B. AKASH
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