The challenges and opportunities facing chicken meat and egg producers in the Middle East and Africa were examined at WATT Global Media Poultry Trends MEA 2018, which took place at VIV MEA 2018, held this year in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Disease challenges
Dirgam Al Roussan, poultry technology application lead at Cargill Animal Nutrition Middle East and Africa, noted that poultry producers in the region are facing numerous disease challenges resulting in higher mortality rates, decreased production and higher costs.
The most important health challenges in the region are viral, followed by mycoplasma and then immune-suppressing agents. Key among viral infections is Newcastle disease, and sampling has found in excess of 15 percent of flocks are infected by Newcastle disease virus alone.
However, typically, poultry flocks in the Middle East and Africa are suffering from multiple infections at the same time.
He pointed to the results of sampling of broiler flocks carried out between 2013 and 2017. All birds sampled showed signs of respiratory disease and, of 2,724 samples collected, more than 40 percent were infected with low-pathogenic avian influenza and another significant disease agent, including Newcastle disease, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, infectious bronchitis or M. synoviae.
While recently mortality rates in the region have been dropping, mortality has been variable over recent years. In 2012, mortality in poultry flocks stood at 14.3 percent, falling to 5.8 percent in 2014, then spiking to 10.1 percent in 2015 and declining to 7.2 percent in 2017.
Respiratory diseases are of paramount importance in the region because of their high mortality rates, but it is not simply mortality that is an issue for producers in the region.
Vaccination issues
Improvements in vaccination programs have meant that birds may have subclinical infection, so there may not be high mortality rates, but there is nevertheless a decrease in production. Despite an absence of signs of infection, feed conversion is poorer, and birds take longer to achieve desired body weight.
This is now the big challenge in the Middle East. Improvements and developments in vaccination programs may be bringing diseases under control, but significant problems with subclinical infection remain.
The costs associated with the current disease situation in the region are many, not only direct costs such as vaccination and medicines, but also the potential loss of markets and trade.
Where some vaccination programs are concerned, the virus strains used in vaccines may not be those that are circulating in the field. This raises questions among producers as to whether their flocks will be protected against high rates of mortality, or spread from flock to flock or farm to farm prevented.
This concern over vaccine efficacy has resulted in some producers vaccinating layer and breeder flocks multiple times to help to ensure protection.
Marketing opportunities
While disease may continue to cause difficulties at the level of production, opportunities for engaging at consumer level continue to grow.
Hamed Masoumi, vice president of business development at Iran’s Telavang Group, looked at how companies in the sector can make the most of social media, particularly targeting younger consumers, and offered examples of how Telavang has used social media channels to promote its egg products.
He noted that social media is “home territory” to younger generations, particularly Generation Z — ages 12-15 — and millennials — ages 21-25 — but added that the agricultural sector is not always performing as well as it could in the field.
Generation Z differs from millennials in that, while Millennials remain open to more traditional media channels, Generation Z is much more active in the social media space.
Eighty percent of Generation Z uses social media on a daily basis and 20 percent of them post original video content.
As further illustration of social media’s growing importance, Massoumi noted that, in the U.S., 57 percent of people access news from the television, while 38 percent look online. If this figure is broken down by age group, among 18-29-year-olds, only 27 percent turn to the television for news. Again, looking to the U.S., 92 percent of children under the age of 2 already have a digital footprint.
This is a worldwide trend. In Iran, for example, only 15 percent of the younger generation watch television.
Tell a story
When using social media, there are several points to consider that are particularly important, such as telling a story that inspires change. An example of this would be U.S. company Toms which, for every pair of shoes it sells, gives a pair to an impoverished child.
This is a strong message people love, and it has been successful for their brand.
Messaging needs to be simple, but it must be “cool” to resonate with younger consumers. When messaging through video channels, originality and creativity are essential if a video is not to be lost among all the videos that are uploaded each day.
Each social media channel, for example Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin, has its own purpose and messaging needs to be tailored to suit whichever channel is used.
Where once, television or billboard advertising had to be paid for, now advertising via social media is free, but investment must be made in creating the content itself, and it should be combined with tangible experience.
In the case of Telavang, Massoumi noted, one campaign looked for influencers on Instagram that were bodybuilders. They were asked not to advertise Telavang’s egg white protein products, but simply to incorporate them into their daily routines and to upload photographs.
This generated a lot of positive feedback and engagement from potential customers, who felt that if the people they followed used the product, it might be good for them.
The campaign was cheap, effective and to the point.
In a different campaign, consumers were asked to photograph themselves eating a Telavang egg sandwich and to upload the photograph for the chance of winning a smartphone. Not only did this result in consumer engagement, it also allowed the company to better understand who and how product was being eaten, for example through the number of men, women, sports people, or gym goers uploading photographs.
