Protecting marginal poultry farms

FE Team | Published: December 17, 2024 22:07:17

Bangladesh's poultry market which supplies the cheaper variety of proteins like eggs and chickens to the general consumers often turns volatile. As usual, the blame for any sudden price hike of poultry products goes to the syndicates, meaning, the so-called nexus of the monopolies engaged in poultry production and marketing. However, big companies in poultry business deny the allegations arguing that being a competitive market, it is not possible to distort it by any syndicate. Any attempt to that end, they contend, would end up in loss to such a syndicate. Amid such allegations and their denials, the net losers, obviously, are the general consumers, who have been paying through the nose whenever prices of eggs and chickens go up. Others at the receiving end in such eventualities are the small and marginal poultry farmers. As they have to buy poultry feeds and chicks from the large dealers of these items, any price escalation of the inputs drives up the production cost of the eggs and chickens the small farmers produce. As a result, they are often compelled to sell their products at a loss, while, benefiting from the economies of scale, large companies in the poultry sector continue to dominate the market and make huge profits, to great disadvantage of about 90 per cent of small and marginal farmers managing small poultry farms.
It is against this backdrop that a platform of the small and marginal poultry farmers and traders, the Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA), has reportedly threatened to stop production of eggs and broiler chickens across the nation from January 1, 2025 unless their ten-point demands are met by the government. Notably, their demands include curbing the dominance of the corporate entities over the poultry sector, who, according to BPA leaders, were behind destabilisation of the chicken and egg market. At the same time, they (BPA leaders) were critical of the government for what they said its siding with the poultry corporates instead of resolving the crisis the small and marginal farmers are facing.
Understandably, it is out of desperation that the BPA has issued such an ultimatum, which no doubt demands serious attention of the government. For one cannot lose sight of the fact that livelihood of some five million people engaged in small-scale poultry farming and trading is at stake here. These small and marginal farmers have been the traditional supplier of poultry items to precede the emergence of modern poultry farming, let alone the corporate businesses in this sector. They still play a vital role in maintaining a stable supply chain in this sector, come rain or shine, and thereby contributing immensely to the nation's food security.
Therefore, the government should take steps to protect the small-scale operators in the poultry sector by enabling them to buy inputs like feeds and chicks to continue their business without depending on the large firms. Also, these cash-strapped small and marginal operators should have access to cheap, where possible, interest-free, credit so they could continue with their trade. It is highly concerning that, out of around 150,000 small and marginal poultry farmers in the past, according to some estimates, only about 60,000 are now surviving. In this regard, the BPA, for instance, has long been blaming the 'price manipulation of the feeds and chicks by poultry corporates' for disappearance of small poultry farms. That calls for strict monitoring and being merciless against any excesses committed by the corporate sector in this regard. At the same time, efforts should be there to help create an atmosphere of understanding among all parties in the greater interest of the poultry sector.