Poultry Production in North Africa and The Middle East

Poultry Production in North Africa and The Middle East

The situation of poultry and livestock in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa describes the increasing continuity of poultry products from meat and eggs with the increase in population growth in these countries. Increasing population and rising incomes make white meat and egg products more consumed than beef and sheep meat products.

Poultry in Middle East

The poultry industry in the Middle East is still witnessing significant growth in the current decade in addition to its rise in the past two decades. The poultry industry has become at the present time more professional and productive than before, in terms of the use of modern technologies and automation in poultry projects, and the investment boom in the poultry industry with Combating diseases and reducing waste and mortality in these major projects. The consumption of poultry meat in the Middle East has increased by 5% in the past few years, governments generously support in enabling this industry and keeping pace with it in a way that achieves greater returns, such as large countries with high quality and professionalism in managing poultry projects such as the United States, Brazil, Ukraine, France and others.  However, the Middle East does not produce enough to achieve self-sufficiency or even close the deficit and the gap between supply and demand, due to the level of risk in this industry and the crises it faces, such as mortality rates and bird diseases.

Poultry production in Saudi Arabia

The increase in the income of the population in Saudi Arabia has led to a rise in demand above its previous heights for poultry meat and products, as poultry meat is considered the highest demand in Saudi Arabia among the sources of animal protein, as the volume of consumption of poultry meat is expected to reach 1.5 million tons in the next two years.

Saudi Arabia imports from major poultry-producing countries such as Brazil and France to meet the needs as a result of supply and demand, as it is difficult for local poultry breeders to compete with the costs of imported poultry, due to the costs of poultry industry inputs such as feed, which represents approximately 70% of the cost of poultry production. The country’s need for poultry meat covers the giants of the poultry industry in Saudi Arabia, such as; Fakih Poultry Farms Company, Almarai Company, Tanmiah Food Company, Al Watania Poultry Company, where they acquire a share of approximately 50% of poultry production in Saudi Arabia with millions of birds daily and billions of table eggs annually. 

The Saudi government is represented by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture provides financing loans to the poultry industry of up to 70% of the investors’ capital, in order to enhance the self-sufficiency of poultry meat by 80% by the year 2025, as Saudi Arabia has achieved its strategic goal, which was to achieve 60% of self-sufficiency in poultry meat in the year 2021.

Poultry production in North Africa

The need in Africa for more modern technologies in agriculture and poultry farming is increasing due to the increase in migration from the countryside to the big cities resulting from the search for job opportunities and a better life. Population growth is very large in Africa and continues as it is in Nigeria, which has the third largest population in the world.  

With this comes the high demand for food products, which has become in great demand in African countries as a result of urbanization and the movement of a large part of the population to live in major urban cities. There has been an expansion of domestic and international fast food groups in the past five years in which poultry products are widely used. This has led to a doubling of the high demand for poultry products, with increased pressure on local poultry breeders to compete and keep pace with demand. This also led to the entry of new investments in the poultry industry as a result of the opportunities provided by governments to meet the need for poultry products.

Poultry production in Morocco

The proportion of poultry production in Morocco has increased to 7.7% over the past four years, as a result of the increasing consumer behavior in Morocco, where Moroccans consume approximately 21 kilograms of poultry meat annually.

In Morocco, the poultry production equation appears to be somewhat inverted, as most poultry production comes from small farmers in the countryside or home gardens, where chickens are raised, produced and brought to local markets. There are no large companies in Morocco that cover the market need and share a large market share as in other countries. However, due to cheap poultry imported from countries such as China and some European countries, it is difficult for small local poultry farmers to compete and maintain their production and continuity in the absence of government support for this industry. An agreement was recently signed between the United States and Morocco to allow for the first time imports of American poultry and its products to meet the Moroccan market’s need for poultry consumption. However, local poultry farmers were upset about this move, which seriously threatens their production and sales of poultry and competition with imported poultry.

Middle East Poultry Expo (MEP)

Riyadh will host the Middle East Poultry Expo 2023 from 03-05 May 2023 at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center on an exhibition area of 11,000 square meters. The last edition of the Middle East Poultry Expo achieved a number of 6,500 visitors from 54 countries and 140 exhibiting companies from 30 countries. The exhibition is accompanied by the Middle East and North Africa Poultry Conference, which is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, with the participation of nearly 50 international and local speakers.