AFRICABIZ VOL 1 - ISSUE: 67
NOVEMBER 15 - DECEMBER 14, 2004
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Editor: Dr. Bienvenu-Magloire Quenum
editor@africabiz.org

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Contact Information Synopsis Rss Feed Sample A Word From the Editor Business Opportunities

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A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

Dear visitor and international investor,

We warmly welcome you, if this is your first visit to Africabiz Online - The ultimate newsletter on trading and investing in 49 sub-Saharan African countries. If you are a regular and faithful reader, welcome back.

- AFRICABIZ INTERACTIVE

Till now Africabiz Online and Africabiz Email Edition were announcement deliveries. Which means readers cannot add comments or discuss about arguments put forward in posted articles.

Africabiz Editorial Team is pleased to announce Africabiz InterActive that gives the possibility to visitors to Africabiz Online or subscribers to Africabiz Email Edition to contribute to the debate posting comments on Africabiz Interactive

We invite you to visit Africabiz Interactive and contribute.

- AFRICAN DECISION MAKERS SHOULD FIGHT AGAINST UNFAIR WTO RULES

The Business Opportunity Section deals about an existing potential market of US$ 20 billions in sub-Saharan African countries to develop poultry breeding - to cater for eggs and animal proteins' supply to the populations.

The development of poultry breeding industries (through a combination of small scale family operations and big broilers corporations) would provide jobs and revenues to rural folks around the continent, develop agribusiness related to food industries in general and to poultry meat and egg transformation in particular; help solving the hunger problem, participate in boosting the global developing of African nations; and help African states garnering substantial budget revenues.

Unfortunately, figures listed in Table 4 show that Africa's poultry meat production is dwindling fast due to the competition exercised by imports from Europe.

Indeed, during the 1990's African decision makers lowered customs duties on imported commodities and staples from abroad without obtaining reciprocal measures from developed nations in Europe, America and Japan that, in the contrary, grant hefty subsidies (in the range of US$ One billion a day) to their farmers and transformers.

That state of unfair trading relationship between poor countries and the developed ones needs to be changed to stop the economic havoc created in vital agribusiness sectors in sub-Saharan African countries. These unfair trading WTO rules are right now strangulating the developing of poor nations.

A responsible policy-maker, from the North or the South, that cares for the stability of the global village, cannot allow the trend to continue.

It is high time for African decision makers to take necessary measures to reverse the trend, protect and salvage their agriculture and nascent food industry. For more about the matter please read: Fair Globalization? Yes. Economic Strangulation of Africa? No

Your feedback / objection / contribution is welcome. Visit WorldWide BizCenter, and choose General Information (as topic) to create a thread for discussion. On the top of the WorldWide BizCenter page, there is a HELP link to assist you making an efficient use of the discussion board. This link also is useful

Many thanks for dropping by and see you here on December 15, 2004.

Dr. B.M. Quenum
Editor of AFRICABIZ

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA

- Several business opportunities - component parts of the Integrated Developing Scheme described in Africans, Stop Being Poor! are listed in following table.

a- SHEA BUTTER (5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13) b- BLUE GOLD (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) c- FREEZE-DRIED PAPAIN (20, 21, 22 and here) d- KENAF (23, 24) e- VEGETABLE OIL (25, 26, 27, 28) f- CEREALS (30, 31, 32, 33) g- FRUITS (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46) h- ESSENTIAL OILS (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52) i- ROOTS & TUBERS (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64) j- FOWL BREEDING (66, 67,

- FOWL BREEDING AS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY: PART II - INTRODUCTION TO POULTRY BREEDING

Last delivery starts a new series of "Business Opportunities" dedicated to fowl breeding. A brief general introduction about duck breeding shows how it is possible to start cheap with few couples of animals and grow big fast.

Indeed, fowl breeding could be carried out either as a small scale family business (1,200 to 5,000 animals bred per year), at a medium scale industrial basis (50,000 to 200,000 animals bred per year) or at very large intensive scale (up to several millions of animal bred per year).

- Empowering several thousand of people in rural areas to operating small scale poultry breeding operations would help implementing the Strategy here available.

Indeed, birds raised by rural folks represent for each operator a "Feather-Wallet" that could be used to trade, exchange and barter staples and supplies.

Further, large slaughterhouses and broilers entities could be setup to buy birds from small operators.

Table 1 below shows the Percentage Contribution of Birds From Family Operations In African And Asian Countries to the Total Poultry Population.

One sees that the contribution is very high in selected countries. However, it is important to notice that family operations, as implemented in most African countries, had not yet yielded full potential in productivity and quality because the birds are not fed enough on a regular basis. Worse, most of the time they are left alone wandering around pecking for their own diet.

Indeed, familial small scale operations' productivity and quality levels (for eggs and birds) could be highly improved first if research and development works are carried out on village chickens to increase protein supply's intake; and, second, if birds are submitted to systematic medical care.

Anyone interested to improve family operations' productivity may consult the remarkable studies carried out by E.B. Sonaiya from the Department of Animal Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria on how to feed chickens with locally produced feeding supplies.

Table 1 - Percentage Contribution of Birds From Family Operations In African And Asian Countries to the Total Poultry Population - Source
Countries	% Contribution	Reference
Sri Lanka	28	Fonseka (1987)
Zimbabwe	30	Kulube (1990)
Cameroon	65	Agbede et al (1990)
Cote d'Ivoire	75	Diambra (1990)
Kenya	80	Mbugua (1990)
Gambia	90	Andrews (1990)
Malawi	90	Upindi (1990)
Nigeria	91	Adene (1990)
Ethiopia	99	Alamargot (1987)
Bangladesh	99	UNDP/FAO (1983)

Medium industrial scale operations existing in most of West African countries (Nigeria excepted) are having increasing difficulties competing with the dumping selling prices of frozen chickens imported from Europe.

In fact, several medium scale operations closed down during the last years of the 1990's because operators do not have a perfect control on the supply line and costs of feed. Therefore, they cannot adjust their products' selling prices to compete against dumping selling prices of imported poultry products. Although these imported products are second quality left off (rumps, hindquarters, broken legs, pieces of aisles) - that are raw materials used in European countries to produce canned feed for cats and dogs.

These second quality poultry products are bundled with large pieces of poultry, which have overpass the selling date set by European sanitary bodies.

Further, during the export dispatching period from Europe to Africa - one to two weeks, plus the time required to clear through customs (that may take several days) the cold-chain is broken several times rendering the products dangerous for human consumption.

Only in Nigeria (120,000,000 inhabitants and in Southern African countries - South Africa in particular (see Table 2 below) - exist large scale operations.

Table 2- Key Figures About South Africa Poultry Industry
South Africa Population	+43 million 2004
Chicken meat consumption per capita/ year	125 kg (est. 2001)
Chicken production (metric tons)	460,000 (2001)
Poultry meat import (metric tons)	85,000 (est. 2001)
Poultry meat export (metric tons)	18,000 (est. 2001)
Laying hens (millions)	29.5 (2001)
Egg production (metric tons)	342,000 (2001)
Source: FAO and website available here

South Africa as a broiler nation ranks 28th in the world. The industry is concentrated into few (around 10) vertically integrated companies that account for three quarters of the national broiler output. Since 1990-1995, poultry meat consumption surpassed the total consumption of other kinds of meat. Indeed, South African consumers shifted away from red meat because of the rising obesity problem occurring in South Africa's population.

South Africa's poultry industry is 93% self sufficient - contrary to the trend in other African nations as shown in Table 4, which reveals that the continent is a net importer at 90%. The per capita egg consumption in South Africa is 5.5 kg. The highest of the continent.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated Nigeria poultry population to be in the range of 175,000,000 million in 1987 and 200,000,000 in 2002. Figures that reveal a very slow growth rate of Nigeria's poultry industry.

- MASTERING QUALITY AND PRODUCTION COSTS IS THE RECIPE TO MAKING PROFITS

In Africa, a medium scale poultry breeding operation needs to meet following conditions to make profits and resist imported chicken's competition:

- First, operators have to build up a feeding supply line based on local agricultural raw materials and avoid as much as possible to import feed. This website provides information on how to build up a local feeding supply line. - Second, operators need to propose to consumers valued added products instead of selling live chickens. For instance, an operation that breeds 50,000 - 200,000 animals per year (139 - 560 birds a day) could setup subsidiary operations that produce fried or smoke chickens to appeal to the taste of people. That would surely help competing against imported frozen chickens, which flesh are "spongy" - not as "firm" - compared to locally bred chickens. - Third, the operations must carefully select which breed classes of chicken to establish and develop.

- In tropical areas, medium scale industrial operations (50,000 to 200,000 animals bred per year) are easier to run and manage in comparison to very large operations (several millions of birds per year) that exist in European and North American countries.

Indeed, temperature and pests control are essential to breeding fowl and particularly chickens. Therefore operators of medium scale businesses in tropical areas (where temperatures are set around 30°C year around) have better chance to control pests and other sanitary problems.

Further, chickens would benefit from larger living space and would not suffer from broken bones diseases (osteoporosis) resulting from confined breeding space (in batteries as per the image above) associated with large scale operations.

- CHICKEN BREEDS FOR TROPICAL AREAS

Doubtless, there are business opportunities available throughout the African continent, to breeding fowl in general and poultry in particular - in spite of the fierce competition exercised by chickens imported from Europe - provided conditions set in previous chapter are met.

Also important is the choice of the chicken breed classes to develop and market. Below in Table 3 is a short list of available chicken breed classes and related breeding performances:

Table 3 - Chicken Breed Classes And Related Breeding Performances - Source
	Denomination	Raising period in months	Weight (kg)	Origin
1	Tam Hoang	3.5	2.0	China
2	Luong Phuong	3	2.0	China
3	Sasso	2	2.0	France
4	Plymouth	2.5	1.8	Cuba
5	Hydro	2	2.0	Cuba
6	Arbor Acres	7 (weeks)	2.0	USA
7	Meat Hubbard	7 (weeks)	2.0	USA
8	Egg Hubbard	5	1.6	USA
9	Isa Brows	5	1.6	France
10	Brows Nick	5	1.6	USA
11	Hy Line	5	1.6	USA
12	Dekalb Gold	5	1.6	USA
13	Gold Line	5	1.6	Holland
14	Leghorn	20 (weeks)	1.5	Cuba

- 20 BILLION US$ CHICKEN MEAT MARKET POTENTIAL IN AFRICA

Table 4 lists figures about the Total Poultry Meat's Consumption in Africa compared to Europe.

One sees that Africa is a net importer of poultry meat and that production has ups and downs, year in year out. From 1999, the production level dropped sharply due to the competition from imported frozen chicken from Europe.

As shown on Table 2, South Africa is the only sub-Saharan African country that cover 93% of the national demand for poultry meat and eggs - producing 460,000 metric ton of poultry meat and 342,000 metric tons of eggs for a population of around 43 million people.

Owing to the fact that other sub-Saharan African countries (around 650 million people) are net importers to the level of 90% of the demand, one could estimate the potential market existing in Africa to be in the range of [460,000 divided by 43 and multiplied by 650] = 6,953,500 metric tons for poultry meat and [342,000 divided by 43 and multiplied by 650] = 5,169,800 metric tons for eggs.

Both products representing a total minimum market value of around 20 billions US$ per year.

The development of poultry breeding industries (through a combination of small scale family operations and big broilers corporations) would provide jobs and revenues to rural folks around the continent, develop food industries related to poultry meat and egg transformation, help solving the hunger problem, participate in boosting the global developing of African nations. And help African states garnering substantial budget revenues through taxes.

Unfortunately, figures listed in Table 4 above show that Africa's poultry meat production is dwindling fast due to the competition exercised by imports from Europe. For more about the matter please read: Fair Globalization? Yes. Economic Strangulation of Africa? No

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