Local hen and her chick in a village of Mozambique, where production costs for farmers are 30% higher than the cost of importing chicken (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

With a growing appetite for chicken in Africa, BBC Africa’s Kim Chakanetsa investigates why the continent does not produce enough birds to feed itself.

‘If you have eaten a handful of spicy chicken wings in Angola recently or perhaps polished off a lemony “yassa poulet” in Senegal, there is a good chance your chicken travelled some distance before finding its way on to your plate.

‘It depends where you live in Africa, but chickens are increasingly migrating—in freezers—from Brazil, Germany or other European Union countries to the continent.

Imports of chicken to sub-Saharan Africa tripled between 2004 and 2014,
according to figures from the US Department of Agriculture.

‘Here’s a look at reasons behind the huge increase and what can be done…