Cape Town – The agriculture department reports that imports are helping replenish egg stocks, preventing panic buying ahead of the festive season, a report says.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak, which led to the culling of millions of chickens and caused an egg shortage, is now under control, Times Live quoted the department spokesperson, Reggie Ngcobo as saying.
The outbreak resulted in the slaughtering of millions of chickens since the start of the year, causing a deficit of eggs on store shelves.
He said that imports and the unaffected 70% of farms are addressing the issue.
To meet demand for the December festive season, Ngcobo said that permits for imports include 9 million fertilized eggs, 37,802 tonnes of day-old chicks, 62 tonnes of egg products, and 30,986 tons of poultry meat.
Business Tech reported last week that due to the avian flu outbreak in the country, there is a significant shortage of eggs and chickens, leading to a sharp increase in prices.
The high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) has resulted in the culling of 20% of the country’s commercial layer flock and 30% of the national broiler breeder population.
This has led to a 20% increase in egg prices from September to October 2023, with the cost of 60 eggs nearly tripling the inflation rate recorded during the same period, the report said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
