Monrovia – The scarcity of eggs on the Liberian market is becoming a serious concern, while the price has now doubled.
Egg is a major source of inexpensive high quality protein and it also formed part of many local dishes in the country.
It is regarded a ‘complete’ source of protein because it has all nine essential amino acids; the ones we cannot synthesize in our bodies and must obtain from our diet.
More than half the protein of an egg is found in the egg white along with vitamin B2 and lower amounts of fat and cholesterol than the yolk.
The whites are rich sources of selenium, vitamin D, B6, B12 and minerals such as zinc, iron and copper.
Egg yolks contain more calories and fat. They are the source of cholesterol, fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and lecithin – the compound that enables emulsification in recipes such as hollandaise or mayonnaise.
Due to acute scarcity of eggs in Monrovia, a cart is now sold for about L$800 – almost twice its previous price of L$400 back in December last year.
A single egg is now being sold for LD$40.
Many restaurant owners and fast food centers are now taking eggs off their recipe and menu due to its scarcity. Parents are also complaining about the lack of eggs in preparing food for their kids.
Many eggs retailers in the country have blamed the scarcity on Sara Group of Company, who they said, is the only company importing eggs to the country.
They said company increases the price of eggs on a daily basis without taking into consideration customers’ interest.
At the same time, others are calling for the establishment of more poultries in the country in order to limit the dependence on imported eggs.
They noted that the increment in the price of egg started when businessman-turn- politician Benoni Urey stopped producing egg at the end of 2017, leaving Sara Group of Company as the sole importer of eggs on the Liberian market.
Evelyn Fayiah, a local eggs retailer in the Red Light market, said the profits she makes now come from the sell of the empty eggs cart and not the sale of the eggs.
“We are now buying the egg very expensive. Benoni Urey is no more producing egg locally, so all the eggs we are buying right now is been imported into this country by Sara Group of Company,” she said.
“We used to buy the egg at a very reasonable price before, but for the past three months now Sara Group of Company is selling the eggs to us in US dollar and you and myself know the rate right now in our country is high.”
“So, this situation is giving us hell as small business people because the egg price is increasing everyday and is making our customers to stop buying egg because some of them can’t afford to pay L$40 for a single egg.”
Nyoube Sekou, another egg retailer, said he is now buying eggs from Sierra Leone since the price on the market in Liberia is too high.
“This egg you see me selling here is from Sierra Leone, I cross the border just to get it so at least I can make small profit,” he said.
“If we continue to buy egg here in Liberia, we will only be making Sara Group of Company rich. Because there is no other company producing or importing eggs anymore beside them, so they increase the price of eggs on the daily basis.”
Famata Sesay, a local business owner in the GSA community, wants the government to empower Liberian business so they can compete with foreign businesses in the importation of eggs or production of eggs in the country.
“The only way price of eggs and other commodities will be stable in this country is when the Government of Liberia starts empowering our local businesses to challenge the foreign companies who are doing business here. Because those foreign companies don’t care about their customer, they are just here to make profit even at the detriments of the citizens,” she said.
Ousamane Jalloh, a Fulani businessman who runs a fast food center in the Wroto Town community in Sinkor, said the increase in the price of egg on the market is because of the exchange rate.
“We are buying egg at this price currently because those who import the egg got to change the Liberian dollar into US$ and the rate here is very higher, so we as business people have no choice but to sell the egg just like we are buying it from them,” Jalloh said.
One restaurant owner, who asked for anonymity, said the scarcity is due to government policies that grant semi-monopoly to foreign businesses.
She said until the local egg producing companies or poultries are capable to supplying the market, the scarcity of eggs would become a regular problem in the country.
“We need to have our Liberian poultries producing more eggs and also the government must remove restrictions on the number of companies that import eggs in this country,” she said.
Smile Biney, owner of a fast food joint on the Airfield Road in Monrovia, said the current shortage of eggs on the market is the first he is experiencing since he become running his restaurant six years ago.
Biney has now removed eggs from his menu for more then three weeks now, and he said it would cause him to lose a lot of money if he continues purchasing it.
He said the scarcity of eggs is becoming alarming, adding that he has seen many people complaining about the absence of eggs on the shelves of many super markets.
Report by Jackson F. [email protected]/0770195412