Morocco’s Poultry Industry Struggles Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Production Drops

In 2020, the production of poultry meat, broiler and turkey is estimated at 580,000 tons compared to 625,000 tons of poultry meat in 2019. The production of consumption eggs was around 5.8 billion units last year compared to 6.1 billion in 2019.

Youssef Alaoui, president of the Inter-professional Federation of the Poultry Sector (FISA) attributes this decline to the health crisis. "The restrictive effects of the state of health emergency on the fluidity of poultry marketing, through the usual distribution channels (closure of markets, hotels, restaurants, cessation of catering activities...) have led to a drop in demand and, consequently, a collapse in farm-gate prices and an abundance of unsold poultry and eggs at the farm level," he said in La Vie éco.

As a result, the sector has recorded a huge loss. This loss is estimated at 4 billion dirhams, the majority of which is borne by poultry and egg farmers. Despite this loss and the rise in production costs, the poultry sector has continued to supply the domestic market with chicken and turkey meat and consumption eggs, often at a loss.

According to the explanations of the president of FISA, raw materials, including corn and soy in particular, have experienced a price surge on the international market. However, prices remain stable on the market. In January 2021, the ex-farm selling prices of broiler chickens ranged between 9 and 11 DH/kg live, i.e. an average of 10.5 DH/kg. The weighted average price of turkey is set at 17.75 DH/kg live. As for the consumption egg, its price averages 0.79 DH/unit ex-farm.