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Uganda poultry imports ban hurting Rwanda

Saturday March 18 2017
chicks

Rwanda's poultry farmers are struggling to find alternative sources for live chicks needed to keep their businesses going. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Farmers in the country are feeling the pinch of the ban on poultry imports from Uganda and Europe in the absence of an immediate alternative source for day-old chicks.

Uganda recently reported an outbreak of avian flu in wild flocks of migratory birds prompting its neighbours to impose a ban on poultry products from the country.

Rwanda’s poultry industry is highly dependent on imported poultry products with most of the live chicken and chicks, being sourced from Ugandan and European markets.

Although the ban should have resulted in a boon for local producers, farmers are instead facing dwindling production as they face challenges in securing alternative sources for chicks and other varieties needed to keep their businesses going.

READ: Kenya, Rwanda block chicken imports from Uganda after bird flu outbreak

“The ban comes at a time when I needed more than 7,000 chicks to replenish my stock, now I have to wait until the ban is lifted,” said Protais Habiyaremye, a poultry farmer in Northern Province.

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On average, Rwanda was importing about 150,000 day-old chicks every month from Uganda, Belgium and Holland. Other poultry products included in the ban are eggs, live chicken, turkey and ducks, dressed chicken and chicken sausages.

There is no large local supplier of live chicks after the country’s sole hatchery stalled years ago and is now set for privatisation. The few breeders of chicks operate on a scale too small to meet demand while local farmers also expressed concern over the quality of locally-sourced chicks.

While officials say the ban would stay in place until authorities are convinced that the outbreak has been contained, farmers said the industry could suffer in the absence of immediate interventions.

“The problem is not only affecting us commercial producers who buy in large volumes, but also individual farmers who come to us to buy chicks,” said Leonidas Munyembabazi, a regular buyer of about 2,000 chicks every month and who has a poultry farm in Rulindo District.

There are fears that the dwindling supply could result in increased prices. Already, the cost of products like eggs, live chicken and meat have started going up with bulk buyers like restaurants and hotels having trouble finding reliable local suppliers who can meet their demand.

However, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture said the issues facing the farmers could be temporary with State Minister Fulgence Nsengiyumva suggesting the national hatchery could soon be operational.

The Cabinet approved the lease of the Rubirizi hatchery to Flow Equity, a US investor late last year. The firm is expected to revamp the hatchery, reduce the huge import bill for chicks, chicken and eggs while also increasing its production capacity. A

According to Rwanda Agriculture Board figures for 2014, the country is capable of producing about 16,000 tonnes of poultry meat and 6,973 tonnes of eggs annually.

But, this would still not be enough to reverse the widening chicken and eggs deficit in the country. The government had sought to increase egg production to 100,000 per month.