POULTRY BOOSTS LOCKDOWN EXPORTS

MBABANE – Export figures for poultry and related products were more than double in the first quarter of the current financial year.

This is the period from April to June 2020, which was associated with the ‘harder’ partial lockdown which was enforced to curtail the spread of COVID-19. According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s 2020/21 first quarter performance report, poultry showed a higher positive variance as compared to the same period in 2019 to boost the overall agricultural exports.  The volume for exported poultry and products shot up from 83 855 to 262 727kg.  In monetary terms, it was an increase from about E3.3 million to over E8.38 million.

In the report, it was disclosed that overall; the country exported two per cent more in terms of volumes while in monetary terms the figures were seven per cent higher. It was an increase from E159.8 million to E171.6 million. The relatively higher value of exports was attributed to the drop in the strength of Lilangeni when compared to the international currencies, especially the US Dollar. Lilangeni fell to nearly E20 per Dollar during the better part of 2020. Meanwhile, there was a notable decline of fruits exports in terms of volume from about 17 378 384 to 16 471 289kg.  Most fruits boost the immune system, which might have increased their demand locally during these times of COVID-19.  Vegetables exports sales were equally down, with the fall at 53 per cent.

The National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard), on the other hand, highlighted that during the period under review, the facilitation of direct sourcing from local producers of fresh produce yielded E28.5 million. These were sales that NAMBoard coordinated for local retailers to buy direct from from local farmers, representing a 11 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2019. NAMBoard procured E2.7 million worth of produce from farmers to distribute to various channels. The export market for butternut saw a total of 203 tonnes procured from farmers and exported, resulting in E813 438 in farmers’ income. This adds up to 68 per cent of the quarterly target of E5.3 million in sales.

Worth mentioning is that the advent of COVID-19 has also come with major key developments at NAMBoard. The latter was tasked with facilitating increased production of key vegetables as part of a national food security framework. This resulted in the distribution of 8.32 million seedlings nationwide. At least E1.2 million revolving fund was established for farmers to purchase inputs. A total of 426.77 hectares was planted with the key vegetables.

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