Poultry Production in Africa: Present Status, Challenges, Opportunities, and Prospects

Africa’s demand for meat products is rising due to the increasing human population and consumer preferences. The human population of Africa was estimated to be 1.52 billion in 2024, representing about 18% of the world’s population. This paper describes the status of the African poultry subsector and highlights the industry’s challenges, opportunities, and prospects. Unlike in other regions, Africa’s commercial poultry production is still evolving. The contribution of Africa’s poultry subsector to global production is estimated to be about 5%. Egypt and South Africa are the leading chicken meat producers, while Nigeria and Egypt are the leading egg producers. The per capita consumption of chicken meat and eggs in Africa is 3.8 kg and 44 eggs per person annually. African poultry farmers face many challenges, including climate change, lack of extension support, lack of access to finance, lack of market access, high feed costs, and inadequate infrastructure. The continent’s dependence on imports of hybrid birds, which are less heat tolerant. Also, raw materials (e.g., wheat, maize, soybean, etc) contribute to the unsustainability of the industry. Large quantities of raw materials, subjected to customs duties and taxes, are imported at high expense, resulting in high feed costs. Therefore, there is a need to intensify farmer education, adopt strategies to alleviate heat stress, expand breeding operations and hatcheries, produce raw materials required in feed formulation, and promote further processing of poultry products. We conclude that poultry production can significantly contribute toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals, especially 1 (No poverty) and 2 (Zero hunger).