OUAGADOUGOU — Garlic chicken is being grilled in the Tampouy district, where a dozen people are waiting to be served. A pile of charcoal burns under the grill grate, and fragrant smoke stimulates appetites and fantasies of delicious chicken meat. The fatty meat that falls onto the fire releases even more pleasing smoke smells.
The butcher cuts up some 20 grilled chickens on a table, while more are still on the fire. As he dips a brush in oil and then a spice mix before spreading it over the meat, the idea of the chicken’s flavor and taste can be seen on the customers’ faces.
After about 10 minutes of waiting in her vehicle, Irène Ky is finally served. It’s a broiler chicken. Even though the seller had assured her it was local. She takes it reluctantly. “I would have liked a local chicken. It’s milder and more appetizing, even if it’s more expensive,” she says.
The customer is king
Despite its unique taste and flavor appreciated by consumers, “bicycle chicken” (the nickname for local chicken) now only seems to exist in name. According to national data, Burkina Faso’s chicken production reached a record 71,816,000 heads in 2013 before falling to 36,794,000 heads in 2019 — a more than 48% drop in just five years. Today, there’s a clear shift to broiler chickens, which are not only larger and meatier but also sold at a lower cost. This is one of the reasons for bicycle chicken’s rarity on the market.
Soumaïla Tiemtoré, a meat griller, sells about 60 to 100 birds a day. “People prefer large chickens. Even if there is local chicken available, some customers favor other breeds because they find the local ones are too small. Plus, broiler chicken is cheaper,” he says. Meanwhile, two ladies have arrived and are assessing the large pieces of meat on the grill. “This one seems small so I’m going to take the biggest along with another piece,” one woman says to one of Soumaïla’s employees.
At a traditional restaurant in Ouagadougou’s Rimkieta district, Antoine and two companions sit at a table. On the menu: flambéed (broiler) chicken and drinks. The young people acknowledge Burkina Faso’s local chicken tastes good but they prefer meat that doesn’t cost as much. “If we want to be full, we inevitably choose broiler chicken. Not only is it bigger, but it costs less,” Antoine explains.
Increase in imported meat
For a long time, local chicken was consumers’ first choice. From special events to parties and barbecues, it was always on the menu. Today, the trend has changed, says Mamadou. With 30 years’ of experience in local chicken farming, the 60-year-old draws a conclusion. “More and more, people are only using local chickens for sacrifices. For that, they can buy a rooster for 5,500 CFA francs (about ),” he says, pointing to a healthy rooster with a red crest.
On another farm, Séni Sana rallies his 500 local chickens and guinea fowls with a simple sound from his mouth and some sorghum seeds. He says broilers pose a threat to local chicken producers. “Broilers can be sold just after three months because they’re given vitamins that accelerate their growth. On the other hand, we feed our local chickens natural cereal seeds, so they take time to grow. Customers prefer to go where they can get chickens quickly rather than buying our local poultry,” he says. According to statistics, imported meats, for which the import bill rose from 169 million in 2017 to more than 500 million in 2019, explain the decline in local chicken production.
Towards competition between local chicken and other breeds
Sold at high prices on the market, Burkinabe chicken is losing ground despite multiple initiatives to promote it. First labeled bicycle chicken in 2022 by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, events, including fairs, have also been organized to boost its sales.
In Poa, a local chicken festival is held every year to “promote and encourage” its production, with prizes awarded to the best producers. The event’s promoter says the production of Burkinabe chicken must be encouraged to keep it from losing out to other chicken breeds. “In time, we will have to work to ensure that production follows. Otherwise, the trend will reverse for good because people will look at price rather than quality,” he warns. The festival’s promoter goes further, calling for the state to “support local producers with training and funds to allow them to increase production.”
The criteria to identify local chicken
Many types of chickens, including improved local, cockerels and broilers, are flooding Burkina Faso’s market and sometimes creating confusion for consumers. But several characteristics can help distinguish local chicken from others.
“Local chickens often have a more colorful appearance compared to others, and their beaks and legs are black,” explains Moumouni Bikienga, an agricultural engineer at the general management of Animal Production. They also “tend to be smaller than other breeds, as well as slimmer, more athletic and generally more active,” he says, adding that they “like to spend more time moving freely around outside.”
In Burkina Faso, the annual need for poultry is estimated at 100 million chickens. According to 2018 figures from Animal Resources ministry, the daily consumption of chicken is 80,000 heads in Ouagadougou and 50,000 in Bobo-Dioulasso, for a sales turnover of an estimated 400 million CFA francs (about 7,000).
