BUSINESS syndication and extortion on the road and at markets have for long been identified as major reasons for price increase of essentials. While consumer rights campaigners have continuously asked the government to address the issues, the authorities have failed to stop the menaces. The failure has had negative implications on consumers, small farmers and their farms. Marginal farmers鈥� platform Bangladesh Poultry Association on August 19 once again demanded an immediate government action to break syndicates of big companies in the poultry sector to protect the interests of consumers and small farmers. The association says that a syndicate of a few corporate companies manipulates the prices of feed and day-old chicks, resulting in high production costs of chicken and eggs. The association alleges that 100,000 out of 160,000 small farms were forced to shut down because of a syndicate of 4鈥�5 corporate companies, which gained an additional profit of Tk 5,920 crore in the past year through feed and chick market syndication. The prices of feed, day-old chicks and the production cost of an egg in Bangladesh are almost double the amounts in neighbouring countries because of market manipulation.
The price of feed is Tk 40鈥�50 a kilogram, of a day-old chick Tk 25鈥�35, the production cost of an egg Tk 5 and of broiler chicken Tk 76鈥�86 a kilogram in India while the price of feed is Tk 60鈥�72 a kilogram, of a day-old chick Tk 60鈥�100, the production cost of an egg Tk 10.29 and that of broiler chicken Tk 155鈥�170 a kilogram in Bangladesh. Marginal farms face, as the association claims, a loss of Tk 40鈥�60 a kilogram of chicken and the financial strain leads to the closure of many small farms. The association also blames the livestock services department for favouring corporates. The government on various occasions admitted the presence of market manipulation and fined some businesses for this. The Competition Commission on January 23 fined two poultry farms, Diamond Egg Limited and CP Bangladesh, Tk 3.5 crore for their alleged collusive practices in artificially increasing egg prices. Market manipulation by business cartels is believed to have also caused a sharp increase in prices of other goods, too. When farmers cannot make even a marginal profit for their agricultural produces, intermediaries and big businesses make abnormal profits. In Bangladesh, 35 per cent of the final retail price goes to processors and intermediaries.
The authorities must realise that smallholder farmers are key to ensuring food security and facilitating them is the best way to ensure fair prices for producers and consumers. The authorities must, therefore, make adequate intervention to break business syndicates and show the dynamism needed to contain food inflation and save smallholder farmers. It must establish an effective market monitoring mechanism and empower smallholder farmers through effective policies and ground-level interventions.
