We import US$ 23 million chicken neck and back is what we import annually to Jamaica, close to US$13 million in beef offals, beef trimmings US$ 16 million, rice US$84 million….

Disclaimer: I am not in the PNP’s shadow cabinet, so what I am about to say may not contend. 

But this is something I’ve been speaking and writing about for years.

Today, I want to highlight and explain just one and why it is a significant reason why our people remain unhealthy with obesity, high blood pressure, and other primary health ailments. They cannot afford to buy a balanced food basket because the cost of chicken is out of their reach especially chicken meat.

For decades, Jamaica has had 250% duty protection on chicken meat. Globally, the average import duty rate on chicken in other countries is 24%, so why must it be 250% in Jamaica? (it’s actually 260%)

 Is this really in our people’s national interest, or are we serving the interest of a very few individuals, in particular 2 companies?

Before you have a knee-jerk reaction to ‘yes, it helps local production,” let us look at the data rather than an emotion.

The International cost breakdown of a chicken is feed (largely corn) at 61%, baby chicks at 18%, housing at 7%, others at 10%, and labor at only 4%. 

We do not make feed in Jamaica. We don’t produce corn. We don’t produce wheat or soybean; the inputs that go into feed.

What we refer to as feed mills in Jamaica are really big silos and a mixer that blends these imported inputs into the final product.

So, in effect, the local Jamaican direct cost input of chicken is less than 10%.

All the inputs in animal feed are traded as commodities on the world market, like oil; the price fluctuates in keeping with the law of supply and demand. 

The price of corn has fallen from $801 (US/Bu) April 2022 ,to less than $392.50today) on straight mathematical terms with 50% reduction in the cost of feed which represents 61% of the cost input of chicken our chicken prices should have gone down by about 30%, but instead it went up.