How pet birds are victims of Egypt’s economic crisis

How pet birds are victims of Egypt’s economic crisis
Parrot on hand- Shutterstock

Last October, Egyptians became angry after chicks were suffocated to death due to a shortage of chicken fodder. However, chicks are not the only type of birds that breeders have sought to get rid of in the country, which is suffering from skyrocketing prices of living for citizens and their pets alike.

 

Most breeders, especially small breeders, have been getting rid of pet birds by either gifting them or selling them at a low price due to the high prices of all fodder types by more than 200%. Egyptians are in a battle against inflation that reached 30.6% in April 2023 as a result of a shortage of currency needed for importing vital commodities like animal and poultry feed. Egypt’s economy is also struggling as the country’s foreign debts reached 92.9% of GDP in 2023, the highest recorded in five years. 

 

“When the price of feed was cheap, the small breeder could start his own project by raising a pair of birds, and then sell the product to local merchants, who in return sell them to exporters. But nowadays, exportation is difficult, as the expenses of the fodder witnessed an increase of 200%,” S., who owns three shops selling pet fish and birds in Cairo, said in comments to Jusoor Post.

 

One kilogram of yellow millet fodder, for instance, previously sold for 11 EGP, before rising to 15 EGP, 17 EGP, and then 30 EGP, and now its price for retailers is 62 EGP per kilogram, S. explained.

 

“I have been in this field for more than 30 years and I have never seen this [hike of] price before. There are people who liquidated their farms, and some were forced to stop exporting, as there is a rise in the price of hard currency. Breeders are unable to breed [anymore]… it is no longer rewarding,” he continued.

 

“Someone came to sell his birds in order to have money to pay the rent for his house, and he told me, ‘Buy them at any price, and I will not disagree with you’,” he added.

 

The lack of hard currency was not the only reason for the high prices of fodder, as the insufficient cultivation of some types of fodder, such as Cockspur grass (Barnyard grass), led to an increase in its price due to the lack of supply amid the absence of the government’s control over traders, S. noted.

 

Cockspur grass is a type of grain that is grown alongside rice. The price of Cockspur grass seeds previously sold for 0.60 EGP, but today a kilogram sells for 40 EGP, he said, adding, “Not cultivating Barnyard grass and yellow millet is one of the reasons for the high price of fodder, so we import fodder, as the local product does not cover the market's needs.”

 

In comments to Jusoor Post, M.M., a small breeder said, “People are selling the birds because the fodder is very expensive, although it cannot be profitable. The small breeder wants to get rid of them.” 

 

He said that he has to choose between feeding his family or feeding the birds, adding that he was forced to sell some of his birds and doves at low prices, as feeding them is unaffordable.

 

Narrating a scene he witnessed at the Friday market in southern Cairo, where small breeders sell their own pet birds to big merchants, M.M. said that he saw a man with a cage of weak Cockatiel birds selling them for 100 EGP instead of 150 EGP each. When M.M. asked the man why he sold them at such a low price, the man responded, “I could not feed them well and consequently they became weak.”

 

The prices of all fodders increased, in addition to the price hike of eggs, which are also needed to feed the birds, M.M. added.

 

In a statement, the head of the Farmers’ Syndicate, Hussein Abu Saddam, said that one ton of yellow millet fodder is now sold for 60,000 EGP, noting that one can of this fodder was sold for 1,000 EGP last month, compared to 300 EGP last year.

 


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