Chicken, between the high costs of production and the citizen’s limited income
Aleppo – North-Press Agency
Sam al-Ahmad
The decrease in the value of the Syrian pound (lira) has led to an increase in production costs in poultry farms by more than %40, and caused great economic losses for poultry farmers.
Hassan Nayef Awad, the owner of a poultry farm in the northern countryside of Aleppo told North-Press: "The price of soybeans has reached SYP 335, and one kilogram of corn has exceeded SYP 165, an increase that reached up to 50%, this increase didn't include the product's selling price.
He showed the cost of one kilogram of chicken reaches SYP 850, and the cost of eggs to about SYP 1200, while one kilogram of chicken is sold at about SYP 700, and eggs are sold at about SYP 1100, which causes great losses to the farmers, and thus their reluctance to raise chicks during this period, especially since with the advent of winter and the cold season, that increases the costs for the farmers due to the need to provide heating for the chicks, whether by coal or diesel.
As for Jamal al-Nasser, the owner of a poultry farm and chicken in the northern countryside of Aleppo, he also told North-Press: "The decrease in the price of chicks and chickens compared to the costs of its production has led to the reluctance of many breeders to raise them, which led to the cessation of many eggs production not only in Aleppo and its countryside, but also in the various Syrian governorates.”
He added: "The depreciation of the value of the lira and the resulting increase in the prices of raw materials and the difficulty of providing fuel for heating the poultry farms caused many breeders to slaughter the chickens and sell them in the market in order to avoid major losses, and the outbreak of seasonal viral diseases, the scarcity of vaccines, and the difficulty in providing them contributed to the problems of chicken breeders.
The difficult economic situation experienced by the Syrian citizen and the high prices of meat have boosted the demand for chicken, which is considered a less expensive and more suitable alternative to the low income of most Syrians, but fluctuations in the exchange rate have shifted its effects on chicken prices that have also become between two fires, high production costs and taking into account the citizens' income.
Fahd Hamada, a chicken seller in al-Jamiliya neighborhood in Aleppo said to North-Press: "In recent years, chicken have become an appropriate alternative for meat, of which has reached more than SYP 6,000 for one kilogram, while chicken doesn't exceed SYP 1,000, but in light of the current conditions, we fear the price frenzy and the weak purchasing power of most of the customers, who are mostly from the low-income.”
Waiting for the return of the economic stability, confusion and successive losses in the poultry farming sector will continue, something that won't only have a negative impact on poultry and its breeders, but it will also affect the livelihood of the Syrian citizen, who is haunted by the deterioration of the Syrian pound (lira) and the fluctuation of prices.