Meat Shortage in Azerbaijan

Meat prices in Azerbaijan rise for several reasons, and all the reasons are associated with the wrong agricultural policy, experts say.

Reasons for Growth in Meat Prices

In January the price of beef averaged 10 and 11 AZN for mutton, and in February the prices increased by 1-1.50 AZN.

A survey among ordinary meat sellers showed that the cause of a rise in prices for meat is a deficit. Vendors with reference to the manufacturers reported that the grazing areas in Azerbaijan sharply reduced. These areas in the administrative procedure have been transferred under the sowing of different cultures, cotton, grapes, etc., the need for the development of which has been repeatedly pointed out by President Ilham Aliyev at the Cabinet of Minister meetings.

According to sellers, another cause of rising prices is that the customs price (official duty and bribery combined) per cattle head grew from 100 to 250 dollars. For wholesale transport of cattle, each wagon of cattle, regardless of the number of head, is taken 20,000 AZN.

Statistics Talk about Self-sufficiency

Statistics says that Azerbaijan is more than 90% self-sufficient in meat and meat products. At the same time, according to the same statistics, the percentage of self-reliance is growing every year. Azerbaijan provided itself with beef at 86.3% and with lamb at 97.7% in 2013. In 2014, the figures were 87.7% and 97.9%, and in 2015 they reached 91.8% and 99.3%, respectively.

Official figures state that in 2016, Azerbaijan produced 523,800 tons of meat. To this should be added the imports of beef, which in 2016 totaled 5,235.08 tons.

In addition, the country imported 66,805 head of small cattle – 6,476 from Russia and 60,329 from Georgia.

According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on the minimum consumer basket (MCB) in 2014, the average per capita minimum requirement should be 29.4 kg. Given this figure, the minimum requirement for meat in the country should be 285,300 tons. In other words, if you believe the official statistics, only domestic production should cover fully the need almost twofold. That is, statistics show 58 kg of meat per capita. However, the Turan IA survey showed that families of 4 people with average income consume about 4 kg of meat a month or 12 kg per person per year, which is 2.5 times less than the MCB requirements and 7 times less than WHO standards. Then what kind of self-sufficiency is in question?

Thus, it turns out that the real market volume is 108,000 tons (12 kg x 9 million people), or 4.8 times less than the statistics claims.

Experts Do Not Trust Official Figures

However, experts believe meat production data are incorrect. Thus, the head of the Center for Economic Research Department, Valeh Maharramov noted that the State Statistics Committee figures, in the first place, are too exaggerated, and secondly, they do not regard the live weight of the animals. If we translate the live weight into processed meat, it turns out that the production is about 250,000 tons. Together with the imports, the total meat market does not exceed 260,000 tons. According to official data, the country has 8.8 million head of sheep and goats and 2.7 million head of cows, bulls and buffalos.

“No identification of cattle has been carried out in Azerbaijan and it is unclear where this figure is taken,” he said.

According to him, in fact, the production of meat does not even cover the figure specified in the MCB. “And if you take the international standards, we are far from it at all. It is 2.9 times less. Thus, the World Health Organization considers that the annual meat consumption per capita shall be 84 kg. For example, in Russia the annual meat production is 70 kg per capita, and they set a goal to reach 84 kg,” he said.

Maharramov stressed that currently there is a paradoxical situation, when the purchasing power of the population reduces and thus the need also decreases, but meat prices constantly increase.

“There is a shortage of meat and areas for pasture are reduced. Over the past three years, 100,000 hectares of pastures have been allocated for planting. In the near future it is planned to allocate another 50,000 hectares of pastures for planting,” he said.

The expert noted that in parallel with the reduction of pasture areas, the rules specified in the government program for the development of agriculture are not fulfilled either.

The state program indicates that 2 million tons of caloric food will be produced annually. But only 47,000 tons of this food was produced in 2016.”

Use of Beef:

Due to its composition beef (veal) is considered one of the most valuable kinds of meat. Experts in nutrition recommend eating beef no more than 2-3 times a week.

Beef contains a lot of nutritional protein, which contains all the amino acids required for normal operation of the human body. Moderate consumption of beef has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, strengthens blood vessels, and improves the hemoglobin in the blood. Moderate beef eating helps reduce the level of bad cholesterol, contributes to the normalization of the gastrointestinal tract, maintains a normal level of acidity, and helps against weakening of the body and to gain strength. Beef is useful to athletes, people engaged in heavy physical labor, and all those whose work is related to increased energy consumption. Beef helps strengthen bones and muscles, improves memory, and has a positive effect on the nervous system.

Use of Mutton:

The composition of mutton (lamb) includes virtually all major nutrients - vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, iodine, fluorine, phosphorus and others. Lamb contains a large amount of easily digestible protein, which makes the meat particularly nutritious. The amount of fat in the meat is lower than proteins, and therefore it does not substantially contain harmful cholesterol.

Mutton is quite low-calorie, especially lamb meat, which can contain only 135 calories. It is useful for teeth and can even aid in the prevention of caries. After all, it contains a sufficient amount of fluoride useful for dental tissue.    -71A-