Crying fowl
Mozambique's poultry industry is reeling under a deluge of cheap imports. Domestic farmers are unable to compete with low-priced products from countries such as South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. The Mozambican market, they assert, is becoming a dumping ground for products that have been rejected in the countries of their origin for exceeding the expiry date.
Afonso Langa, chairperson of the Poultry Farmers Association, a local body, charged that products which have been kept in the freezer for over a year are sold in the country's markets for 50,000 meticais (approximately us $2) a kilogramme (kg). Compared to this, the fresh local produce sells at about 60,000-70,000 meticais per kg. Decrying such "unfair competition', he blamed cheap poultry imports for threatening the livelihoods of the local producers of chicks and chickenfeed.