Kenya losing international meat market share

The meat in other countries such as Brazil, Australia enjoys lower production costs, high growth rate due to enabling environment resulting in lower expenses. 

Kenya is losing its market share of meat and meat products on the international market due to the high prices of meat locally. 

The minister for Livestock development Mr Abdi Kuti said the Kenyan meat is losing its appeal as buyers seek cheaper meat from other countries. 

The meat in other countries such as Brazil, Australia enjoys lower production costs, high growth rate due to enabling environment resulting in lower expenses. 

Kenyan meat is retailing at more than Sh360 locally but beef prices on the global market are going for an all time low of just Sh315 a kilogram meaning that we cannot compete on the world market.

This together with the cost of transport has made Kenyan meat less competitive. 

“We are losing the market to our competitors despite the high quality organic meat that we produce that has no chemical and hormone contamination,” said Mr Kuti. 

Meet prices on the international market have risen by 34 per cent in the last two years to trade at Sh315 per kilogram from Sh234 resulting into high earnings internationally according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Kenya earns an estimated Sh2b from meat exports according to the latest available data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). 

Meat exporters

Among the key meat exporters in Kenya include the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) and Farmers Choice. 

Kenyan meat is also expensive due to hard conditions and many years that farmers go through trying to raise a small number of cattle as opposed to large scale producers in the west. 

Kenya’s meat and animal exports were hit in 2010 when the country stopped exporting live animals due to health concerns raised in the export destinations. 

In 2011, Canadian consumers paid 6.8 per cent more overall for fresh and frozen meat, excluding poultry, compared with the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. 

Beef prices rose 11 per cent in the United States and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects another rise of five per cent in 2012.

The commodity price of corn is another factor driving the price of popular meats skyward, say meat producers.