Nampula IN Danger Of Running Out Of Eggs
Maputo, 14 Dec (AIM) – On the eve of the festive season, the northern Mozambican city of Nampula is in danger of running out of eggs, reports the independent television station, STV.
Last week, the National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) seized 12,000 boxes of eggs imported from Malawi, on the grounds that they might be contraband. This caused an immediate shortage, and the price of eggs in Nampula shot up.
Consumers prefer the Malawian eggs because they are cheap. Local egg production does not meet the demand.
Prior to the INAE seizure, Mozambican eggs were selling in Nampula for 230 meticais (about 3.6 US dollars) a box – but a box of Malawian eggs cost 190 meticais. With the Malawian eggs suddenly removed from the market, the cost of a box has soared to 350 meticais, with traders warning that the price will reach 400 meticais later on Wednesday.
INAE seized the Malawian eggs after a local poultry producer, Novos Horizontes, complained of unfair competition. Novos Horizontes, located in Rapale district, 20 kilometres from the city, is the only large scale producer of chickens and eggs in Nampula. At a stroke, INAE has removed the sole competitor to Novos Horizontes.
In Nampula central market, one trader, Absinel Domingos, told reporters “the Malawian eggs are at an accessible price and we, the traders, used to buy them at an accessible price. National eggs are sold at a high price”.
The Nampula Provincial Directorate of Industry and Trade clams there is no shortage of eggs. Currently, claimed the Provincial Director, Alfredo Nampuio, there is a stock of 531,000 eggs, and this stock, plus the eggs being produced every day should be enough to supply the market. Nampuio claimed that some traders must be hoarding eggs.
The INAE action has health implications, since eggs are a cheap source of high quality protein, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends consumption of at least one egg a day. The Nampula electronic newspaper “Ikweli” warns that the INAE decision “could raise still further the levels of malnutrition in the province”.
Traders told “Ikweli” that the INAE decision was precipitate, and restrictions on imported eggs should not have been imposed before ensuring that Mozambican producers could meet the demand.
One egg seller from the central market, Ismael Manuel, said “The eggs we used to sell did indeed come from Malawi, and they were very good. Those eggs were very fresh, unlike the eggs from Novos Horizontes which go rotten in less than two weeks”.
Manuel believed that, because Novos Horizontes found the Malawian competition inconvenient, it had spoken with the government persuading it to shut down the import of eggs from Malawi.
Consumers told “Ikweli” that INAE had wrecked their planned purchases, and they would have to cut back on the number of eggs they had hoped to buy for the festive season.
(AIM)
Pf/ (485)
