Kenya poultry farmers see losses in US deal hitting $1.28bn
Tuesday April 30 2024
Chickens and eggs at a poultry farm. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Kenya risks losing Ksh172 billion ($1.28 billion) annually if the proposal to import finished poultry products from the US under the ongoing Strategic Trade and Investments Partnership (STIP) negotiations goes through, players have warned.
The Poultry Breeders Association of Kenya (PBAK) — the lobby for breeders, hatcheries, and meat processors—claimed that the loss would come from a projected 75 percent reduction in demand for local poultry products.
They said support industries in the value chain, including feed suppliers, breeders, processors, transport services, and agro vets would also be affected.
“Allowing the USA traders access to Kenya will lead to the suffocation of Kenya’s emerging poultry sector,” said the lobby in a statement on Monday.
Read: Kenya, US talks shift to agriculture
The Kenyan producers say they learned of the push for the US to export finished poultry products to Kenya under STIP at a forum the State Department of Trade convened.
PBAK said there is little transparency and public participation on the Kenyan side contrary to the Constitution. Similar concerns were raised last year by the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum.
They said the technological difference between poultry production in the US and Kenya is significant and multifaceted, influenced by factors such as infrastructure, access to resources, and agricultural policies such as genetically modified organisms that tilt the scales in favour of the US.
Were the plan to be passed, the farmers warned, it would collapse the local poultry industry.
In a memorandum submitted to the Trade Principal Secretary, PBAK stated this will also impact the livelihoods of nearly 400,000 households, equivalent to 1.5 individuals.