The population of countries of the MENA region was over 480 million in 2015 and is expected to reach nearly 750 million by 2050. There is a steady rise in the demand for poultry meat (see Figure) and eggs with an average annual consumption growth of 2%. Poultry products are considered to be affordable and healthy protein sources with no religious restrictions and thus poultry meat has become MENA’s and the World’s preferred meat with the highest per capita consumption globally of all other meats. Poultry has the best feed conversion rate for feed to human food among terrestrial animals and the lowest environmental footprint in terms of energy and water use per kg of meat or eggs produced.
Poultry feed constitutes 65-70 % of the total cost of the production of poultry meat or eggs. Therefore any attempt at reducing feed cost contributes significantly to reducing total production cost-and improving the access of people to a rich source of protein. However, in the MENA region, poultry feed prices are consistently increasing because of their dependency on the imported corn and soybean meal. In order to decrease the dependency of the poultry feed sector on these two commodities, it is necessary to find sustainable alternative protein and energy sources. The MENA region produces about 8 million tons of poultry meat and over 3.5 million tons of eggs per year. This production requires about 21 million tons of feed, out of which 6 million tons are soybean meal. The MENA region produces about 5 million tons of cotton seed meal, peanut meal, sesame meal, sunflower meal and rapeseed meal per year that can partially replace part of the 6 million tons of soybean meal needed for the production pf poultry meat and eggs in the region. Nutritional studies that we have conducted in our laboratories during the past three decades showed that these five meals can be improved considerably through the use of improved varieties, processing methods, proper handling and storage in order to enable there use in place of part of the soybean meal.
In a recent economic study we showed that including these meals at about 5-10 % in broiler rations and 10-15 % in layer rations can produce an average saving of $ 60 million per year for broiler producers and $28 million for egg producers. Thus the production of better quality oil seed meals and other sources of feed suitable for poultry in the MENA region can contribute significantly to the production of cheaper poultry meat and eggs and make these products more affordable to a greater part of the population and to improved food security for the region.
