Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIAN poultry producers are up in arms against middlemen who are dumping cheap egg imports from Zambia and South Africa, as they are driving them out of business.
NAMIBIAN poultry producers are up in arms against middlemen who are dumping cheap egg imports from Zambia and South Africa, as they are driving them out of business.
According to James Roux, the owner of Osona Eggs, since last year, Zambian producers have been dumping cheap eggs on the local market because they produce them at lower costs than Namibians do.
“They have cheaper feed because of abundant maize to which they add value, and they have cheaper fuel too compared to Namibian producers,” he said.
Roux said this was not only affecting large producers but also small rural producers who had come into the sector after the onset of the Covid pandemic.
“Many of them have been forced to close their operations,” he said.
He said at first, the companies imported about 800 boxes of eggs a week, but later increased the volumes to 1 600 boxes a week.
Each box carries 12 crates of 30 eggs each, totalling between 288 000 and 576 000 eggs imported per week, and Roux blamed the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade for “not doing enough” to protect the local poultry producers.
“They can do quota importation of these eggs like what happens with horticultural produce,” he said, adding that local producers were sitting with eggs they cannot sell or must sell at a loss.
Another producer Rene Werner said Namibia is self-sufficient in eggs, but the problem is the regulation in the import of the product.
He said the country imported eggs from South Africa at a time when local producers could not satisfy demand.
“But now we are producing enough and imports need to be regulated – both for health and quantity,” he said.
Werner said the country produces about 2,3 million eggs a week, which farmers are forced to sell at a loss.
Former Poultry Producers Association president Eckhard Waldschmidt said Namibia is the only Southern African Development Community country that still uses the open trade policy and is being affected from the north and the south.
“Eggs are zero-rated on VAT (value added tax) in South Africa, making them cheaper to bring into the country and the cheap feed makes Zambian egg imports cheaper than local products,” he said.
Waldschmidt said most imports end up in the informal market where they sell fast while their products sit on the shelves in the shops.
“This has resulted in a price war with us dropping prices and them following suit and dropping them too. We incur huge losses in the process,” he said.
He said soon producers will cancel orders for chicks and layers and this will result in the collapse of the industry and massive job losses.
He, however, said the association was having discussions with the government on possible solutions.
This was confirmed by the deputy executive director in the Ministry of Trade and Industrialisation, Michael Humavindu, who said the ministry had formally received the complaint which is being addressed within the larger scope of the poultry sector.
“The ministry has, along with poultry sector operators, established a quarterly meeting where we ventilate the industry matters. This year, we have held two meetings chiefly looking at the issue of imports that continue to flow into the country,” he said adding that the sector dynamics are also driven through regional and world trade organisation dictates.
“The ministry is working on a poultry sector growth strategy (masterplan) and all these issues are being worked on diligently by authorities and it is thus wrong for some stakeholders to decry these efforts and label them as ‘uncaring’,” said Humavindu.
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According to James Roux, the owner of Osona Eggs, since last year, Zambian producers have been dumping cheap eggs on the local market because they produce them at lower costs than Namibians do.
“They have cheaper feed because of abundant maize to which they add value, and they have cheaper fuel too compared to Namibian producers,” he said.
Roux said this was not only affecting large producers but also small rural producers who had come into the sector after the onset of the Covid pandemic.
“Many of them have been forced to close their operations,” he said.
He said at first, the companies imported about 800 boxes of eggs a week, but later increased the volumes to 1 600 boxes a week.
Each box carries 12 crates of 30 eggs each, totalling between 288 000 and 576 000 eggs imported per week, and Roux blamed the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade for “not doing enough” to protect the local poultry producers.
“They can do quota importation of these eggs like what happens with horticultural produce,” he said, adding that local producers were sitting with eggs they cannot sell or must sell at a loss.
Another producer Rene Werner said Namibia is self-sufficient in eggs, but the problem is the regulation in the import of the product.
He said the country imported eggs from South Africa at a time when local producers could not satisfy demand.
“But now we are producing enough and imports need to be regulated – both for health and quantity,” he said.
Werner said the country produces about 2,3 million eggs a week, which farmers are forced to sell at a loss.
Former Poultry Producers Association president Eckhard Waldschmidt said Namibia is the only Southern African Development Community country that still uses the open trade policy and is being affected from the north and the south.
“Eggs are zero-rated on VAT (value added tax) in South Africa, making them cheaper to bring into the country and the cheap feed makes Zambian egg imports cheaper than local products,” he said.
Waldschmidt said most imports end up in the informal market where they sell fast while their products sit on the shelves in the shops.
“This has resulted in a price war with us dropping prices and them following suit and dropping them too. We incur huge losses in the process,” he said.
He said soon producers will cancel orders for chicks and layers and this will result in the collapse of the industry and massive job losses.
He, however, said the association was having discussions with the government on possible solutions.
This was confirmed by the deputy executive director in the Ministry of Trade and Industrialisation, Michael Humavindu, who said the ministry had formally received the complaint which is being addressed within the larger scope of the poultry sector.
“The ministry has, along with poultry sector operators, established a quarterly meeting where we ventilate the industry matters. This year, we have held two meetings chiefly looking at the issue of imports that continue to flow into the country,” he said adding that the sector dynamics are also driven through regional and world trade organisation dictates.
“The ministry is working on a poultry sector growth strategy (masterplan) and all these issues are being worked on diligently by authorities and it is thus wrong for some stakeholders to decry these efforts and label them as ‘uncaring’,” said Humavindu.
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