Crying fowl
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30/10/2003
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.
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.