Dalwa 19: February 7, 2021

In his office, Dr. Anwarul Haq Ahadi, minister of agriculture, irrigation and livestock, met with the leadership and a number of members of National Union of Afghan Poultry Producers and Processors. Development of poultry sector and areas of growth of the poultry farmers' business were discussed in the meeting.

At the beginning, the leadership and members of the union thanked the Minister of Agriculture for the support of the Ministry of Agriculture (MAIL) for the growth of the poultry sector and poultry farmers, and then called for increased attention for further growth and self-sufficiency of this sector.

Ansarullah Bakhtani, director of National Union of Producers and Processors, said that 80 percent of the country's needs for chicken meat are currently met through domestic production and broiler farms. Mr. Bakhtani said, “More support should be given to the poultry sector and imports in this sector should be limited and conditional.”

Mr. Bakhtani said that with the support of the ministry, there was a need to increase capacity to increase egg production, increase transparency in chicken imports to create domestic competition for production, and suggested that a technical board be set up between the Ministry of Agriculture and union. And increase the harmony between the two parts.

The National Union of Producers and Processors suggested that the import of poultry products should be according conditions and needs as a whole. The director of the union also said that it is necessary to increase tariffs on imports of poultry products and prevent the smuggling of these products.

After that, Dr. Anwarul Haq Ahady, talked about the issues raised by National Union of Producers and Processors and said that poultry farmers should first show the real production capacity by launching a survey, and also in this section. Identify the shortcomings so that we can work in the poultry self-sufficiency sector based on the facts and in a reasonable way in order to approach self-sufficiency.