CAN YOU STOP EATING CHICKEN FOR ONE WEEK?

Aug 09, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Chicken and eggs are in short supply. This should never have recurred. Not after the commitments that were given the last time there was a scarcity. Then, the public was assured that improved systems would have been put in place to monitor supply, demand and the timing of production batches.
The government can only monitor and take steps to alleviate any production shortfall or constraint such as the shortage of feed or baby chicks. The government is not into the production or importation of chicken, and therefore it can only play a supportive and regulatory role in monitoring the market.
While Guyana is now totally self-sufficient in the production of chicken, there remain serious imperfections within the chicken market. For one, it is very easy for large producers to manipulate prices by withholding production. There is no evidence that this is happening, but it is possible for this to happen.
The last time there was a shortfall in production prices increased, but were restored to normalcy soon after the situation stabilised.
It has not always been this way. On one occasion, there was a significant shortfall caused by a drop in production by a major supplier and prices increased and were never restored to normalcy.
At present there are some outlets that are selling chicken for as high as $400 per lb. Beef is no cheaper, and correspondingly fish and fish products are going to rise. Forget about mutton and duck! Poor people cannot afford those products, which can be as high as $700 per lb.
The increase in prices is one of the ways in which the market corrects for shortages, but this corrective mechanism is not perfect, since prices do not always return to normalcy after the shortages have abated.
Chicken consumption has increased tremendously in Guyana. There was a time when chicken was a delicacy. The average household would only have a chicken meal one day per week, mainly on Sundays.
These days there are persons eating chicken almost every day. The chicken is being eaten in a variety of ways: baked, fried, grilled, stewed, in chowmein, sweet and sour, etc.
Those persons who are not cooking chicken at home are having it when eating out. The eating houses are doing healthy business each day. Tens of thousands of Guyanese can now afford to eat out more freely than before. Guyanese are spending a great deal of money on eating out, but that does not mean they should ignore when prices increase. Simply because they can afford to pay the higher prices
They should insist that prices be stable. And this stability depends on supply meeting demand.
Despite the increase in consumption, private producers have in the main been able to satisfy the local demand, to the extent that Guyana for the first time in its history is totally self sufficient, and there is absolutely no need for chicken imports.
This is why the present shortage is worrying. The increased prices caused by the present temporary shortages will hit the poor hard. It is already hard on a poor man to pay $300 per lb, but there is not much scope for the chicken to be sold retail for less than this price. However, when chicken reaches $400 per lb, it becomes an onerous burden on the society. In response, consumers must demand an explanation from those who had promised to ensure adequate surveillance of the market so as to avoid a shortage.
The Guyanese consumer need not accept this terrible situation, because even when supplies are restored, the fact that consumers have paid the higher price will serve as an incentive for jacking the price up a few dollars more. Shortages therefore hurt consumers both in the long term and short term.
Yet there is a way around this problem. If every Guyanese refuses to eat chicken for one week, even with the shortage, there will be a glut on the market and prices will fall.
This is a sort of sacrifice that consumers need to make in order to safeguard their own interests. It is clear that those entrusted with avoiding the shortage have had some problems.
The power therefore has to shift to the consumers, who should ensure that prices remain below $300 in the future, by sending a strong signal that they are not prepared, in a free market, to tolerate price increases caused by shortages. As such, all Guyanese should for the next week, not eat any chicken at all. This will reduce demand and send prices crashing.

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CAN YOU STOP EATING CHICKEN FOR ONE WEEK?

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