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The poultry industry is likely to miss its annualised target of 80 million day-old chicks as monthly production has dipped 40 percent to 3,6 million in the past three months, Zimbabwe Poultry Association president Solomon Zawe has said.

In an interview, Mr Zawe said the decline is attributable to weakening demand rather than production constraints.

“The first quarter was impressive as we managed to produce an average of 6 million day-old chicks per month, which was an 11 percent improvement from the same period last year.

“However, we have witnessed a worrying trend in the past three months as production has dropped 40 percent.

“We produced 70 million day-old chicks last year, we had hoped to produce 10 percent more this year. However, we might not achieve this if the situation does not improve anytime soon,” he said.

Mr Zawe said the industry is also faced with stiff competition from illegal imports that are being smuggled into the country.

“There is an influx of cheap imported poultry products that are being smuggled into the country.

“As far as we are concerned, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has not issued an import permit to any players in the industry, yet these imports continue to flood our markets.

“This only means that the chickens are being bought into the country illegally. We urge the responsible authorities to take corrective measures,” he said.

Mr Zawe said the price of chicken has also dropped from $2 to $1,55 per kg on the back of weakening consumer demand. – Wires.