The following article was suggested by one of our readers—if there's an idea you would like us to cover, please submit it here.

Egg sales have registered an improvement compared to the period during the Covid-19 lockdown when farmers could not get buyers for their product, Andrew Butare, the Chairperson of Rwanda Poultry Industry Association has said.

"Currently, a farmer gets Rwf2,400 on a tray of eggs compared to Rwf1,400 during the lockdown,” he told The New Times.

Given that a tray he referred to contains 30 eggs, an egg goes for Rwf80 during Christmas times.

Victor Hategekimana, a poultry farmer in Rwamagana District who has 1,000 layers, said that he collects between 700 and 800 eggs every day.

"I don’t have a problem of lack of market as it was the case during the lockdown. I sell a tray of eggs at Rwf2,400,” he said.

Butare pointed out that the poultry industry was recovering progressively from the economic impact of the pandemic thanks to the ease in Covid-19 restrictions.

The development, he said, enabled the reopening of the hospitality industry, albeit at low levels compared to the pre-pandemic situation.

He said that a tray of eggs used to cost Rwf2,700 two months ago, explaining that though the prices of eggs have started decline the market is relatively available.

Apart from the lockdown which slowed economic activity, Butare said that prices are mainly determined by market forces.

"The hotels had closed, and the conferences were prohibited due to lockdown, which led to reduced egg sales,” he said, referring to the impact of Covid-19.

He added that many cooked eggs are sold at car parks such as Nyabugogo, yet the sales were affected by the movement restrictions resulting from the pandemic.

In addition, he said, egg sales at the export market such as to buyers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, were also halted by the movement restrictions.

In April 2020, Butare estimated that more than 1.6 million eggs in 16 districts of the country lacked buyers as a result of the lockdown that the Government of Rwanda imposed on March 21, 2020 in a bid to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To shield poultry farmers from the adverse effects of the pandemic on their income, the Government committed to buy the eggs in question. The move was intended to ensure that farmers do not incur losses, at the same time improve child nutrition.

According to the guidelines issued by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), and the National Early Childhood Development Programme (NECDP) on April 28, 2020 on provision of eggs to vulnerable children, the Government would buy a raw egg at Rwf60. Normally, an egg goes for between Rwf70 and Rwf80, according to farmers.

Butare told The New Times that the Government honoured such a commitment.

He had said that because of the lockdown, some people were not very interested in animal source foods such as eggs or meat as they had lost their source of income, rather they opted for staple foods such as maize meal, beans and rice.

Ease in animal feed availability

Speaking to The New Times, Pélagie Nirere, a poultry farmer from Nyagatare District said that it was a challenge to get animal feed during the Covid-19 lockdown, which halted her poultry farming during that period.

Hakizimana said that though the price of animal feed for layers increased from Rwf365 during lockdown to Rwf410 currently, the main concern of feed availability was addressed.

"It was difficult to get animal feed during Covid-19 lockdown because factories were not working [as normal], and there was a restriction on movement, which limited the availability of feeds. But now, it is easy to get the feeds,” he said.

Meanwhile, farmers pushed for subsidy on animal feed to make it affordable.

Statistics from Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) indicate that Rwanda’s chicken population increased by 9 percent per year from 3.5 million in 2010 to 7.6 million in 2018.

The total egg production from Rwanda’s poultry is expected to increase from Rwf244 million in 2017 to Rwf513 million by 2022, as per the livestock sector masterplan developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources in December 2017.