Eggs are now retailing at KSh 360 in most outlets in Kenya from KSh 450 per crate in April.
This 20 per cent drop has been attributed to increased supply in the market that has outmatched demand as more households grapple with the high cost of living.
There is anxiety among poultry farmers over what they say is the increased importation of cheaper eggs from Uganda, thus flooding the local mart.
According to Wairimu Kariuki, Kenya Poultry Association chairperson, poultry farmers now have a huge supply of eggs at a time when layers that they had stocked when the economy began to emerge from the effects of COVID-19, are now at Wairimu Kariuki says farmers have a lot of eggs as the layers they stocked when the economy started recovering after the Covid-19 pandemic are now in production, thus increasing supply in the market.
Over the past two months, Kenya had experienced an acute supply of eggs, triggering a sharp increase in prices when expensive feeds forced many to scale down their stock.
“Farmers have a lot of eggs because the layers they stocked after the scarcity during Covid-19 are now in production,” said Ms Kariuki.
“The consumption is also shallow due to weak purchasing power and a hospitality industry that is still on its knees,” she added.
However, feed millers, whose low prices of eggs have hit, argue that the decline in prices is due to imports from Uganda.
“The price of eggs has dropped because we are now getting too much of it from Uganda, which has now suppressed the local commodity,” said Martin Kinoti, secretary-general of the Association of Kenya Animal Feed Manufactures.
The declining price is a blow to feed millers as farmers buy less to lower production costs.
The average price of a 70-kilogramme bag of layers mash is Sh4,000, down from Sh3,200 last year.
Poultry farmers have complained of cheap Ugandan eggs over the years, which make the local commodity uncompetitive.
Farmers attribute the high cost of chicken feeds to costly maize grains and major supplements such as sunflower cake and soya, which are in short supply in the local market.
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