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In Algeria, the state is reasserting control over the production of both white and red meat amid rising prices for these widely consumed products.
An agreement has been signed between several public institutions to regulate the supply of white and red meat markets, according to a press release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on August 25. This is a state takeover of an industry that has seen prices rise several times.
“The poultry and livestock farming structures belonging to the agricultural production units of DCAS (Company for the Development of Strategic Crops) will be made available to the ALVIAR (Algerian Red Meat) and ONAB groups to implement strategic stocks to supply the national market during the months of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr,” the press release noted.
Meat production: How Algeria hopes to regulate its market
The goal is to produce no less than “10,000 tons of white meat and 50,000 cattle”. The role of the National Livestock Feed Office (Onab) is to ensure the supply of chicks and livestock feed to these production units.
“We have a range of unused infrastructure, old pilot farms, which can be put to good use to increase national production, which will allow us to build up large stocks of red and white meat to supply the market during periods of high demand,” the ministry added.
For its part, the CNMA (National Agricultural Mutual Fund) will be responsible for ensuring coverage of risks related to livestock farming.
The measures come after chicken prices in Algeria reached 500 dinars per kilogram, with red meat prices approaching or even exceeding 3,000 dinars per kilogram in some areas.
To stem the outbreak, the government resorted to importing frozen chicken from Brazil, which was sold at 295 DA/kg and was very popular among Algerian consumers.
Previously, the company imported lamb from Romania and beef from Spain and Brazil, reducing the price of Romanian lamb to 1,850 dinars per kilogram and the price of imported beef to 1,200 dinars per kilogram.
The previous red meat regime was implemented in 2022 through a triangular agreement between ALVIAR, ONAB and sheep breeders.
This involves providing livestock feed to breeders, who will then transport their animals to slaughterhouses managed by ALVIAR. An evaluation of this action is still to be conducted.
The Audit Court noted in its latest annual report that the company had a breeding capacity of 300,000 sheep, but in reality the number of livestock raised did not exceed 20,000 sheep per year between 2010 and 2021.
The new system announced by the Ministry of Agriculture will in fact exclude breeders. These should be replaced by pilot farms specializing in sheep breeding.
With the modest means these pilot farms possess, it is not a problem for the public sector to replace the activities of thousands of breeders in the private sector. The declared goal is to ensure the supply of meat to the market and avoid price increases, especially during periods of high demand such as Ramadan.
Poultry industry lacks regulation
Apart from these one-off imports, mobilisation of resources available to the organisation is aimed at curbing price increases in a sector where breeders remain confined to the informal sector.
Mustapha Zebdi, president of the Algerian Association for the Protection and Guidance of Consumers and their Environment (APOCE), has repeatedly denounced the lack of regulation in the poultry sector in the media. He stressed that nearly 80% of chicken breeders do not have any approval and suggested “creating a temporary breeder card.”
The informal sector is also involved in sheep farming. In this area, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a livestock census in 2023.
Public buildings engaged in production will pay regulatory taxes, while breeders holding a federal card will not have to pay any taxes or social contributions. This situation is expected to lead to competition distortions of about 10% to 16%.
In addition to this distortion of competition, the capacity of public sector companies is 300,000 sheep (in the case of ALVIAR), while the total capacity at the national level is 19 million.
Livestock is mainly owned by the private sector. This shows how ambitious the new plan announced by the agriculture minister is to stop consumers being forced to eat Romanian sheep and Brazilian chicken.
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