Poultry sector output has declined by 40 per cent while consumption of poultry products has also fallen by 20 per cent as a result of the global economy difficulties, according to The Times of Zambia.

Poultry Association of Zambia executive manager, Mathews Ngosa, said the decline in the consumption of poultry products was recorded in the first half of this year.

Speaking in an interview in Lusaka, Mr Ngosa attributed the decline in consumption to a fall in average disposable income.

"This development has forced some poultry farmers and traders to sell the products at a price far much lower than the production cost, some poultry farmers were selling chickens at as low as 18,000 kwacha (ZMK; around US$3.65) instead of ZMK25,000," he said.

Mr Ngosa said the cost of feed had risen disproportionately as a result of the scarcity in the local availability of maize and soy, the major inputs in the manufacture of feed, while imports are generally at a higher cost.

However, he projected that the sector was likely to recover by December this year following increases in the supply of maize and soy beans on the market.

"The sector is slowly picking up and we are optimistic that we will at least recover half of the 40 per cent decline by December," he told The Times.

Mr Ngosa disclosed that Zambia exports five million hatching eggs and about 26 million-day-old chicks every year. Kenya, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the major destinations for the exports.