Breeds of chickens and egg prices across the globe

I got interested in breeds of chickens early in life, while living with my grandmother in the 1940s and early 1950s. She raised chicken in the backyard solely for meat. I was always fascinated by her attempts to protect the little chicks from being snatched by hawks, usually just before nightfall. The behaviour of the hawks got me interested in ornithology. The interest crystallized during my Senior Fulbright Scholar Exchange year at the University of Wisconsin in the 1986/87 academic year. I spent time observing swallows in the course of their north-south migration across the Wisconsin skyline, often in response to food availability, weather changes, and habitat issues. I have since always wondered how much people knew about birds in general and about chickens in particular beyond eating their meat and eggs.

Breeds of chickens

There are over 100 breeds of chickens across the globe, divided into 9 broad categories. In the past, some were unique to particular localities. However, in our globalized world, many of them have been transported beyond their original habitat as part of international commerce. Nevertheless, some survive better in a particular climate than others, while others mature faster than the rest. Today, poultry farmers have improved on the methods of raising chickens on a large scale. So have scientists introduced genetic engineering as they seek new ways of growing chickens faster so they could produce more eggs and more tender meat. In the process, more is known about different categories of birds and their peculiarities.

The ten categories of chickens have varying memberships: Brown Layers (22); Colored Layers (7); White Layers (10); Bantams (11); BBQ Special (12); Crested Breeds (6); Ornamental Breeds (5); Rare Breeds (18); Unusual Breeds (16). Indigenous Nigerian breeds belong to one or the other of the above categories. They include Naked Neck, Featherless Wing, Rose Comb, Wild Type, and Frizzle Feather. In my part of Nigeria, these indigenous breeds are known, respectively, as Abolorun, Opipi, Onigbaogbe, Ibile, and Asa. The various breeds raised commercially in Nigeria today belong to one or the other of the 9 categories listed above. They are mainly dual-purpose breeds for meat and eggs.

However, for Nigerian housewives today, the major concern is about the rising cost of eggs rather than knowledge of types of chicken. The cost of eggs has more than doubled since early 2023, which is why some housewives use it as a reference point for asking for doubling or tripling the amount of food allowance. The problem is that they complain about the rising price of eggs in their local markets, without knowing about the price of eggs across the globe. Worse still, like everything else, they put the blame squarely on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The truth, however, is that the price of eggs has been rising across the globe for some time now. This has given rise to the economic concept of eggflation.

Recently, a survey was conducted on the price of one dozen eggs across 127 countries. According to the data, Nigeria is No 96 on the list and the average cost of a dozen eggs in the country rose from $0.40 (about N600 with pre-Covid exchange rate) to $1.92 (which translates to under N3,000). In Africa, only seven countries have cheaper egg prices than Nigeria. They are Morocco ($1.89), Uganda ($1.83), Cameroon ($1.80), Algeria ($1.73), Kenya ($1,59), Libya ($1.47), and Egypt ($1.45). These are countries in the bottom quarter of the price ranking. Rounding up that quarter is India at No 127. It is the only country in the survey, where a dozen eggs costs less than a dollar (at $0.97).

By contrast, the top one quarter (30) countries with the highest prices for a dozen eggs include many European countries, such as Germany ($3.60), Italy ($3.77), UK ($3.84), France ($4.06), Greece ($4.25), Netherlands ($4.54) and Switzerland, where the cost of a dozen eggs is highest in the world at $6.81. In South and North America, the cost of a dozen eggs ranges from $1.68 in Paraguay to $3.36 in Canada and $4.16 in the United States. However, there are variations from one province or state to another within these countries.

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The critical question is why are egg prices going up? It is all too easy to blame President Tinubu’s policies for inflationary pressures, which contributed to higher prices for eggs and many other products. But what about the other countries, where inflation is only in single digits, and the price of eggs is two, three, or more times higher than in Nigeria? The answer calls for global explanations.

First, the Covid years dealt a major blow to feed production as activities were scaled down, leading to increased prices, felt in the markets as from 2023.

Second, global events, such as the war in Ukraine, caused disruptions in the supply chain of feed ingredients, such as corn and wheat. This has caused major producers of chicken feeds to reduce or curtail production, leading to reduced supply and, consequently, higher prices.

Third, across the globe, climate change has impacted both feed and egg production. Virtually every part of the world has experienced extreme weather (too hot or too cold) in the last few years. The impact has been felt by both feed producers and poultry farmers alike. The result is higher egg costs.

Fourth, there have been disease outbreaks in some countries, such as the United States, where the avian flu disrupted egg supply, leading to shortages and higher prices.

Fifth, immigration policies in the United States and some European countries have caused labour shortages, which have impacted egg production, leading to higher costs.

The bottomline is that the rising cost of eggs is a global phenomenon, and it is symbolic of increased prices of most consumer goods across the globe. Consumer illiteracy, limited knowledge of the world, untruthful politicians, and social media liars have made everything look like Tinubu’s fault.

But then, the presidency has done little or nothing to properly educate the public about global events and the place of the administration’s policies within them. Even now that some of the policies have begun to yield some dividends, the administration has restricted its public communication to responding to criticisms, founded or unfounded. Now that the 2027 general election has begun to smell in the political air, the administration had better start preparing a robust midterm report, now that the midterm is barely two months away.

Finally, it is high time it was made a central government policy to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on global feed supplies for chickens. Until chicken feeds are locally produced in abundance, the price of chickens and eggs will remain high.

Credit:The Nation