Poultry industry leaders and researchers said Wednesday that Bangladesh has achieved self-sufficiency in eggs and meat production and it can supply adequate protein against the present demand.
They also identified some countries like India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Middle East that are very potential to be export market for our surplus poultry products where the demand for protein- based items is growing rapidly.
"Currently, the industry produces a total of 1500 metric tonnes (mt) chicken meat against the existing demand of 1400 mts", said Dr KG Moazzem, additional research director of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
He was presenting the keynote paper at a roundtable discussion styled 'Poultry Industry-Media Cooperation'.
Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordination Committee (BPICC) organised the discussion at the National Press Club.
BPICC Convener Moshiur Rahman presided over the discussion. Editor- in- Chief and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Boishakhi Television Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul addressed the event as chief guest while Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, Prothom Alo Joint Editor Sohrab Hasan and the industry representatives among others, were present as penal discussants.
Quoting statistics from the Egg Producers Association (EPA), the CPD researcher Mr Moazzem said the industry is producing nearly 16 million eggs everyday against the demand for 15 million eggs.
Every week, the local farms produce almost 10 million chickens while the total demand is nearly 9 million, resulting in a considerable surplus in the chicken meat production.
Terming the sector the second largest employment provider after the country's ready-made garment (RMG), the CPD researcher said total investment in the sector stands at about Tk 250 billion maintaining nearly 20 per cent growth rate as the size was only Tk 15 billion in 1990s.
The sector is providing employment to 6 million workers sharing almost one per cent of the total gross domestic expenditure (GDE), whereas beef contribute almost 1.5 per cent.
However, the flow of investment in the sector couldn't maintain consistency over the years, rather the industry faced tough times including man-made political turmoil or various diseases recurrently.
The industry has been eyeing better business prospect considering increased rate of consumption in the upcoming days. Referring to data from an English business daily, the CPD researcher said the consumption of meat in developing countries grew by nearly 70 million mts from 26 million mts during the last five years.
Mr Rahman identified lack of policy support from the government to develop the potential sector that is largely contributing to sound health. "We don't get necessary support from the government", he added.
He also demanded cold storage facilities so that the producers can store their unsold products in order to bring down their losses during political crisis like shutdown.
According to the world health organisation (WHO) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), individual consumption of the meat by the Bangladeshi people is about 15.23 kg per year against the required 43.8kg per person.
