Fourteen poultry farms under the wing of the Ethiopian Poultry Producers & Processors Association declared over 123 million Br in losses due to the changing economic and market conditions brought on by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Out of the total losses, the companies incurred the highest value, amounting to 103 million Br, from day-old chicks, followed by broiler and partner chickens worth 3.2 million Br and three million Birr, respectively. They also reported losses of 1.2 million Br on pullets, 1.2 million Br on fertile eggs and 200,000 Br on eggs, accordingly.

The global outbreak of the pandemic has disrupted the supply chain of poultry farmers who import day-old chicken parents once a year to continue their poultry husbandry. Because of the pandemic, the farmers cannot import the chicks from Europe, where most of their suppliers are located.

The farms looked for other possibilities and potential suppliers and identified Brazil as a potential supplier, but the higher transportation cost prevents the farmers from importing, according to Alemayehu Amdemariam (Maj.), general manager and co-owner of Alema Farms Plc.

The companies used to import the day-old chicks via Ethiopian Airlines and Lufthansa by paying one dollar a chick.

"The airline asked us to pay three dollars to transport each chick from Brazil," Alemayehu said.

Since the major consumers of chicken products, hotels, restaurants and fast food outlets are in complete or partial lockdown due to the pandemic, the demand has sharply decreased by half.

Many commercial farmers lost their markets and have been disposing of the chicks in order not to incur further losses by feeding them. So far, about 2.2 million day-old chickens were disposed of.

The commercial farms mention that they are challenged by the shortage of foreign currency to import day-old parent stocks, feed inputs and vaccines.

Alema Farms produces 4,000ql of poultry feed a day and distributes it to the farmers by importing vitamins and minerals. But the farm has been in a severe situation because of the foreign currency shortage, according to the manager.

Price hikes for poultry feed due to higher prices for soybeans and corn is another problem that is battering the industry.

The farmers used to source the inputs from Wellega and Bir-Sheleqo. Due to transport disruptions to and from Wellega, the prices of maize and soybeans have sharply increased, according to Alemayehu.

The other problem the farmers mention is the lack of working capital.

The Development Bank does not lend to commercial poultry farmers in cash if they ask for less than 30 million Br, according to Genene Tesfaye, board chairman of the Association.