Save the poultry sector

THAT various sectors of the economy are in peril has been common public knowledge now. This message was driven home when 5,000 poultry farmers participated in a rally on December 26 to press home their demands to the government for a bailout package. These protesters brought with them some 25,000 one-day old chicks to be distributed free to those passing by with request “please feed them because we can't”; it hits the nail on its head. Three months of near non-stop violent political programmes have resulted in Tk 40 billion worth of loss in the sector. Poultry sector insiders stress that the present situation is worse than that of the five year period 2007 – 2012 when avian flu exacted Tk 80 billion on the industry.
With some 36,000 farms closing down, with no security on getting delivery of chicken feed or any assurance about reaching chicks and eggs to markets, the industry is indeed in dire straits. We are not at all surprised that the poultry sector has now formally asked the government to bail them out with a financial package. It is impossible to ignore a sector that contributes no less than 4 per cent of the GDP and employs hundreds of thousands of people. Less than a week ago, the finance ministry and central bank were putting together a package for the RMG sector. But the question is, precisely how many sectors will the government bail out? How long will insane politics continue to cost us so dearly?