Jisan Al Jubair:

Chicken and eggs, once staples on the Bangladeshi dinner table, have turned into luxuries for many as prices continue to soar. This poultry price surge isn’t just pinching consumers’ wallets; it’s squeezing marginal farmers who struggle to stay afloat in a market choked by inflated feed costs, middlemen manipulation, and questionable pricing practices.

The root of the problem lies in poultry feed, heavily reliant on imported ingredients like soybean meal and maize. Global market disruptions, including the Ukraine war and exchange rate fluctuations, have pushed ingredient prices up by 15-20% in the past year alone. This translates directly to the feed manufacturers, many of whom, according to Bangladesh Poultry Association President Suman Howladar, “are exploiting the situation by selling feed at exorbitant prices.”

While imported feed costs have undoubtedly gone up, the discrepancy between those costs and retail poultry prices seems wider than can be solely explained by market forces. Eggs, for example, have witnessed a price hike of nearly 40% in recent months, far exceeding the rise in feed costs. This suggests, as Consumer Affairs Bureau Director General A.H.M. Safikuzzaman put it, “the presence of middlemen and syndicates manipulating the supply chain and inflating prices for personal gain.”

In a bid to break the syndicates’ grip and offer consumers some relief, the Consumer Affairs Bureau has launched a direct selling program at Shanir Akhra market in Dhaka. This initiative allows marginal farmers to bypass middlemen and sell their eggs and chickens directly to consumers at prices significantly lower than retail. “Eggs for Tk 10 apiece and broiler chicken at Tk 175 per kilo,” announced Suman Howladar, highlighting the potential savings for consumers under this model.

Egg Dilemma for Farmers and Consumers

The escalating feed costs have directly impacted egg production and affordability. As marginal farmers grapple with shrinking profit margins, egg production has dipped, further tightening supply and driving up prices. “It’s become almost impossible to make a living,” lamented Abdul, a small-scale poultry farmer in Chittagong. “The feed is expensive, the middlemen take their cut, and the chicken prices hardly cover our costs.”

The success of the CAB’s direct selling program hinges on its expansion and government support. Scaling up the initiative to other major markets, coupled with measures to address the high cost of imported feed and tackle market manipulation, is crucial for long-term stability. “We need the government’s full cooperation to make this a national movement,” urged Suman Howladar. “Only then can we ensure fair pricing for both farmers and consumers and bring chicken and eggs back to the Bangladeshi dinner table.”

The fight for affordable poultry in Bangladesh is a complex one, with farmers, consumers, and government agencies all playing a role. As the CAB’s initiative takes flight, it offers a glimmer of hope for a future where poultry prices reflect the true cost of production, not the greed of middlemen and the whims of global markets. Whether this hope takes wing or flutters to the ground remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the poultry price problem demands a concerted effort to ensure that chicken and eggs don’t become a luxury in a land where they were once a daily necessity.