Why is meat becoming more expensive in Azerbaijan?

The number of cattle and small ruminants in Azerbaijan declined last year. According to the State Statistics Committee, as of 1 January 2023, the number of cattle amounted to 2.628.600 heads, while the number of small ruminants - 7.772.100 heads. As compared to a year earlier, the number of cattle declined by 0.8 percent (20.200) and the number of small cattle declined by 1.6 percent (127.600). The decline has continued since 2016.

In parallel, meat imports have increased. In January-February this year, Azerbaijan imported 7. 322 tons of meat. According to the State Customs Committee, this is an increase of 137 tonnes or 1.9 per cent as compared to the same period in 2022.

However, the Ministry Of Agriculture told Turan that the country increased meat production by 3 percent, milk by 1.9 percent and eggs by 9.8 percent as compared to 2021: "Last year, Azerbaijan produced 628,000 tonnes of meat in live weight, 2,264,700 tonnes of milk and 2,18,100 eggs.

Expert Vahid Magerramov draws attention to the serious reduction of livestock over the past 7 years: "Owing to the reduction of grazing areas and hay production, farmers, peasants have given their livestock to forced slaughter. Most of the growth in meat production since 2016 has been possible precisely at the expense of cattle given to forced slaughter and cattle brought into the country, mostly for slaughter."

He reminds that according to the food norm set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 78 kilogrammes of meat and meat products are required per capita per year: "This means that taking into account the population of Azerbaijan, 789,000 tonnes of meat will be produced in slaughter weight during the year. Meat production in Azerbaijan in 2021 amounted to 357.700 tons. Of these, about 10.000 tons was received at the expense of live cattle imported into the country.  In 2021, the country  produced 342.500 tons of meat, or 33.8 kilograms per person.

The country's self-sufficiency in meat and meat products is 43.4 per cent, he said.

Magerramov says that while meat is getting cheaper in the world, it continues to get more expensive in Azerbaijan: "The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted in a March report that meat prices have been declining for 7 months in a row."

According to the expert, there are very serious reasons for rising prices of meat and meat products in Azerbaijan: 'The country produces half as much meat as required. There are also serious reasons for the low meat production. One of them is a very weak fodder base in Azerbaijan. In Line with the "State Programme on Provision of Reliable Food in Azerbaijan in 2008-2015" the government set a goal to bring areas under forage crops to 500.000 hectares, and production of high quality balanced formula feeds to 2 million tons per year.

According to him, the sown area of fodder crops was raised to 428,600 hectares in 2015, but reverse processes followed: "In the following years, the sown area decreased by 11.5 per cent to 379,200 hectares in 2021. Although the State Programme planned to increase the production of high-quality balanced feed to 2 million tonnes per year by 2015, only 12,900 tonnes were produced in 2015 and 192,900 tonnes in 2021. And this is still 10.3 times less than anticipated 15 years ago."

It is worth recalling that since the beginning of this year, beef and lamb prices in Azerbaijan have risen by 25-30 percent.