Egg prices in Ghana escalate drastically due to shortage of maize & soybean chicken feed.
There's a severe shortage of maize and soybean feed in Ghana which has led to jacked up prices of existing feed sold by feed suppliers thus directly impacting the price of eggs.
The recent hike in price became more noticeable after more than 40% jump in price in less than two months. As a restaurant owner and chef, I was a bit alarmed when I bought a crate of eggs for 22 cedis and the size of eggs were like that of a 17cedis egg crate. The eggs were rather diminutive. After complaining to the egg vendor she bemoaned to me, “ it's not me oh! We aren't getting the eggs and the price they sell it to me has shot up.” I also noticed a sudden drop in Nkosua ne Meko sellers on the street. I was bewildered until I was slapped with GHC24 for a full egg crate before it hit me. The egg and pepper seller was also feeling the full price jet propulsion. There’s literally no 17cedis crate of eggs left.
After sharing my thoughts on this rather upsetting trend, several comments reveal that the cost of maize feed has shot up by almost 50%! Soybean feed has also doubled in price. Egg farmers are also finding it difficult to find feed to buy and when they do, it’s costly.
Does the recent avian flu in Europe have anything to do with the increase in feed prices? It most certainly seems to be a major root cause based on the communique issued by the Ministry of Agriculture banning all poultry and poultry products & feed from Europe.
Or perhaps the torrential rainfall in the Northern parts of the country during the September & October months is also another contributory factor?
So my question is, are we not as a country able to provide sufficient & low-cost feed for the production of poultry in Ghana? Shouldn’t the government’s Planting For Food And Jobs program provide enough maize and soybean feed for poultry farmers in Ghana? My other question or musing is, ‘ why must the Ghanaian businessman/woman who is legit trying to run a business struggle with high costs of production?’
There is a general shortage of poultry feed in Ghana.
— StatsGH (@statsgh) December 15, 2020
50KG of broiler feed costs not less than GHS130.
With the increment in egg prices due to the glaring shortage of chicken feed, will the cost of dressed broiler or layer also rise up? That must be a definite and resounding YES!! So what meat should Ghanaians this Christmas? There can’t be Christmas without chicken! Or can there be?
Here is a useful egg preserving tip if you want to store up for the Christmas;
Crack open several eggs into a bowl and beat thoroughly. Pour beaten egg into an ice-cube tray and store in the freezer . Take out each cube whenever you need it, thaw and use.
