SA chicken and egg shortages set to worsen

South Africa’s poultry farmers and retailers have warned residents to brace for higher egg and chicken prices, as millions of chickens continue to die amid power cuts and avian flu.

South Africa’s Mpumalanga province reported an outbreak of avian flu in April and the deadlier H7N6 strain of the flu in May.

The bird flu has since spread to four other provinces, forcing poultry farmers to cull their chickens.

“The bird flu has already caused short supplies of table eggs into the market, and it is expected that the supply of poultry meat into the value chain could be affected negatively in the coming months,” Astral Foods, one of South Africa’s biggest chicken producers said on Thursday.

The company announced that its financial performance had declined due to losses associated with bird flu and increased operational costs caused by power cuts.

The company said it spends 45m rand ($2.4m; £1.9m) each month to run diesel generators.

Abongile Balarane, the head of the South African Poultry Association, told the Daily Maverick earlier this month that the country had lost more than four million chicken, amounting to 15% of the national production.