Cameroon: New prices announced for chicken, egg

The Cameroon Poultry Interprofessional Association, known by its French acronym IPAVIC, has issued new price regulations for chicken and eggs on the market.

The measure follows a recent hike in the prices of chicken and eggs, which got people complaining.

In a release signed by IPAVIC’s president yesterday, the organisation told breeders of broilers and laying hens to charge FCFA 2,300 for chicken weighing between 1.8 kg and 2 kg.

Meanwhile, cells of 30 small eggs will now cost FCFA 1,900, while a tray of 30 big eggs will cost between FCFA 2,000 and 2,100.

For almost two months, egg prices have increased by more than 25 percent.

A tray of small-sized eggs, which initially cost between FCFA 1,500 to 1,900, has been selling for FCFA 2,400.

Meanwhile, the big-sized eggs, which initially cost about FCFA 2,000 sold for FCFA 2,800.

The price hike, adding to an already existing inflation of the prices of basic foodstuffs, got people complaining.

“I don’t even know how to do it anymore,” laments Marie Therese, a resident of Douala.

“I’m told that the eggs have increased, whereas that wasn’t the case three months ago. How are we going to make the children’s breakfast in the morning? They haven’t even increased the salaries of civil servants.”

The rise in chicken and egg prices became inevitable after corn prices also went up.

Corn prices increased in the country during a global inflation triggered by the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The war caused a drastic increase in the prices of wheat flour and fertilisers, which farmers used to grow corn.

Despite setting new price tags, IPAVIC said chicken and egg prices will fluctuate depending on the cost of raw materials.

People expect the new IPAVIC prices will be respected because similar governmental measures have failed in the past to harmonize prices of other commodities.

Mimi Mefo Info