By LUKE ANAMI

More by this Author

Kenya’s poultry farmers say the country risks becoming a dumping ground for US poultry and dairy products, as Nairobi and Washington work on a deal.

Last week, poultry farmers raised fears that the US-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investments Partnership (Stip) agreement would allow cheap poultry imports; likely to result in the loss of Ksh172 billion ($1.3 billion) annually if implemented.

According to the Poultry Breeders Association of Kenya, the loss would come from a projected 75 percent reduction in demand for local poultry products.

Read: Kenya poultry farmers see losses in US deal hitting $1.28bn

“It’s not just the poultry producers who would suffer, but also the numerous supporting industries that rely on a thriving Kenyan poultry sector: From maize farmers to feed suppliers to transportation services, the ripple effect would be felt far and wide, potentially destabilising the delicate balance of the entire agricultural ecosystem.” said Timothy Mulwa, the association’s chairperson.

But Kenya’s Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Rebeca Miano has sought to allay the fears, saying that the Stip negotiations are not on market access but to lay a level playing field for trade between the two countries.

“The negotiations are about creating an investment and trade environment. It has nothing to do with products, market access or any value chain. And I don’t know where this narrative has come from...We are just raising standards of what the US would expect and that is the first phase of Stip,” Ms Miano told The EastAfrican.

But the poultry stakeholders are convinced that the Stip will eventually see US products, including poultry and poultry products, in Kenya to the detriment of the local farmers.

“The US market has a higher preference for white meat -- chicken breast -- leaving their producers with stockpiles of dark meat such as legs and thighs,” said Mr Mulwa.

Dark meat typically refers to the pieces of chicken such as the legs and drumsticks while white meat refers to the breast, tenderloin, wing, and parts of the back cuts of poultry meat.

Read: Kenya, US talks shift to agriculture

“Imported dark meat lands at about 30 percent of local production cost which makes it difficult for local producers to compete. Allowing the US trader’s access to Kenya will lead to the suffocation of Kenya’s emerging poultry sector,” Mr Mulwa said.

China and Russia, which two years ago bought more than a third of US chicken exports, are buying fewer and fewer chicken legs and thighs. Russia has slowed purchases as it works to expand domestic production, while China has bought less due to anti-dumping duties on US chicken.

Quoting data from the US Poultry and Eggs Association, Mr Mulwa says that the total chicken produced in 2022 in the US was 9.46 billion heads, compared with 72 million heads produced in Kenya.

This is less than one percent of US production.

The farmers say that the ongoing US-Kenya Stip negotiations lack transparency, with no disclosures as to what products will eventually be imported from the US once the deal is signed.

“The parties have so far held four rounds of text-based negotiations, and the State Department for Trade will be leading a delegation to the Fifth Round of Text-Based negotiations, scheduled for May 13-17 in Washington DC,” said Alfred K’Ombudo, Trade Principal Secretary.