Avian Flu Restrictions Still in Place
Long after the bird flu scare faded away elsewhere, Turkmenistan is still enforcing a rigid ban on selling poultry.
Avian Flu Restrictions Still in Place
Long after the bird flu scare faded away elsewhere, Turkmenistan is still enforcing a rigid ban on selling poultry.
The ban was imposed after the carcases of migratory birds suspected of carrying the deadly virus were discovered on Turkmenistan’s Caspian Sea coast early this year.
Both producers and consumers have been hit as chicken meat remains absent from shops and restaurants.
Many poultry traders have been forced out of business, while those who are still operating pass on the meat at a discount to retailers who sell it under the counter.
At the Gulistan shopping centre in the capital Ashgabat, there is no chicken to been seen on sale, but sellers quietly tell customers they can supply it at twice the usual price.
Bairamgeldy Ataev, who lives in a village in Gekdepe district, 40 kilometres from Ashgabat, has kept his poultry farming business going as it is the sole source of income for his family. Because of the ban, he sells only to the “market mafia”, who pay him one US dollar a kilo and retail the chicken at four dollars a kilo.
As it is illegal, such chicken meat does not go through quality testing and therefore flouts all hygiene standards.
One resident of Mary region has switched to trading in clothing instead of poultry. The ban is in place in this southeastern province even though there was no trace of the avian flu virus here. As demand crashed, this man slaughtered his stock and closed down. It was a hard decision, since he had invested so much in the business, selling his car to buy coops, an incubator and birds.
No one knows how long the ban will remain in effect.
Nyazik Aymedova, an Ashgabat resident who used to breed chickens, now only keeps ten birds for their eggs. If the rules do not change, she plans to raise sheep, goats or rabbits – although these are harder to keep in the city.
Both producers and consumers have been hit as chicken meat remains absent from shops and restaurants.
Many poultry traders have been forced out of business, while those who are still operating pass on the meat at a discount to retailers who sell it under the counter.
At the Gulistan shopping centre in the capital Ashgabat, there is no chicken to been seen on sale, but sellers quietly tell customers they can supply it at twice the usual price.
Bairamgeldy Ataev, who lives in a village in Gekdepe district, 40 kilometres from Ashgabat, has kept his poultry farming business going as it is the sole source of income for his family. Because of the ban, he sells only to the “market mafia”, who pay him one US dollar a kilo and retail the chicken at four dollars a kilo.
As it is illegal, such chicken meat does not go through quality testing and therefore flouts all hygiene standards.
One resident of Mary region has switched to trading in clothing instead of poultry. The ban is in place in this southeastern province even though there was no trace of the avian flu virus here. As demand crashed, this man slaughtered his stock and closed down. It was a hard decision, since he had invested so much in the business, selling his car to buy coops, an incubator and birds.
No one knows how long the ban will remain in effect.
Nyazik Aymedova, an Ashgabat resident who used to breed chickens, now only keeps ten birds for their eggs. If the rules do not change, she plans to raise sheep, goats or rabbits – although these are harder to keep in the city.
