Poultry Meat Supply Chain in East Africa: Literature Review and a Proposed Framework for Future Research

The purpose of this paper is to deliver a structured literature review of poultry meat supply chain (PMSC) in EAC and provide a platform for practitioners and researchers trying to identify the existing state of work, gaps in current research, and future directions. An in-depth analysis was carried out to determine the vital information from the literature. This paper has identified gaps to be explored about PMSC, which may be used by researchers to enrich theory construction, and practitioners may concentrate on establishing the extent and frontiers of the agro-supply chain. This research work is an attempt to make a critical literature review of available literature on agro SCM practices for developing countries. The research articles and other documents related to the PMSC were collected from online databases like Google Scholar, Scopus, and EBSCO for ten years (2010-2020). Findings and conclusion are provided based on the literature reviewed. Finally, the recommendations are provided for the development of the poultry sector in the region and the direction for future research.

development of the region will go hand in hand with transformative changes in its agricultural sector to meet a spectacular increase in the demand for food, but also to satisfy the changing food preferences of an increasingly affluent and urbanized population. According to the United Nation World population prospects, the East Africa population is expected to reach 780 million peoples by 2050, with per capita mainly depend on agriculture (United Nations, 2019).
Livestock is one the agricultural sector which contributes massively to national GDPs and rural incomes of EAC. Livestock-related activities generate, on average almost a quarter of the overall rural incomes in the region. Livestock production provides income, employment and food not only to farmers and pastoralists but also, along the supply chain, to contract herders, animal handlers, plant processor, traders, suppliers of inputs, transporters, distributors and market owners. It is estimated that the sector is an essential source of livelihood for about 1.7 billion people globally. Furthermore, livestock also contributes to better nutrition for all household's members, particularly children (Moyo and Swanepoel, 2010).
Poultry meat is mentioned as one of the growing sectors over the past decade due to regional integration across with rapid urbanization, growth of the middle class, and rise in several quick services restaurants in urban areas. As a result, the poultry meat supply chain has gradually recognized as an essential engine to facilitate timely deliveries of the products to the final consumer (Bosona and Gebresenbet, 2013). Poultry production in the Eastern African countries has gradually grown over the past couple decades from a primary backyard keeping system to more professional and commercial poultry. This includes the establishment of incubators; feed input suppliers, housing equipment, veterinary services and slaughtering facilities. In some case, the growth has been strong only on, e.g. broilers while in other countries, both layers and broilers have shown comparable growth (Distefano and Haan, 2018).

Overview of Poultry Industry Status and Challenges in East Africa 2.2.1
The poultry sector in Tanzania Tanzania is the third largest livestock production in Africa after Sudan and Ethiopia (Engida et al., 2015). The current population of chickens in Tanzania is estimated to be 72 million, whereas 40 million are indigenous chicken and the remaining 32 million are exotic poultry (Vernooij et al., 2018). The poultry production systems are categorized in three in Tanzania: First, the traditional indigenous. The traditional indigenous family subsystem is an extensive scavenging dual-purpose system, with an average of 50 eggs per year and 1.5 kg meat for mature chicken. Second, and improved family chicken. The enhanced family chicken subsystem (with improved local/ imported tropical breeds) is a semi-intensive, semi-scavenging moderately high productivity with 150 eggs per year; and an average of 1.8 kg weight at maturity and third, the commercial specialized chicken system is an intensive layers and broilers system with high productivity an average of 2 kg weight at maturity and 270 eggs per year (Silva et al., 2017).
The poultry meat supply chain is hindered due to several factors, including (1) Middlemen and intermediaries: Middlemen play a pivotal role in the poultry meat supply chain. The middlemen (aggregators) hinder the distribution of the inputs for poultry farmers and the sale of poultry products. (2) Inputs and chicken feed: In Tanzania, poultry farmers prepare their feeds using manual and tradition methods. The quality of feed is one of the significant challenges which affect the poultry meat supply chain. (3) Processing plant: Tanzania lack the processing plant for whole chicken and part. This stabling challenge hinders the effectiveness of the poultry meat supply chain due to the integration of upstream, producer and downstream market in the supply chain. (4) Market: The market for poultry meat is still at an infant level in Tanzania. The poultry meat is a luxury product in Tanzania consumed during the festival period only. This makes the market for poultry meat to be very uncertain and unreliable (Vernooij et al., 2018).

2.2.2
Poultry Sector in Uganda Poultry Sector is one of the sub-sector of livestock in Uganda that contribute to people's livelihoods by providing income, animal source foods, employment, transport, draft power, manure, savings, insurance, social status and other (Benson and Mugarura, 2013). The poultry sector contributes about 65 metric tons of meat in the market per year. Chickens are the most popular domesticated animal in Uganda and provide a regular source of meat and eggs to a large share of the population. The poultry population in Uganda, there are an estimated 40 and 50 million chickens (www.africa-uganda-business-travel-guide.com). The Second National Development Plan of 2015 to 2020 and the Agriculture Sector Strategic Plan of 2015 to 2020 of Uganda focus on beef and chicken as the priority commodities for commercial development in future. As part of the implementation Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 (ASL2050) programme, the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Water and Environment have paid more attention to improving the poultry meat production in the country.
Despite effort taken by the respective organs, several factors affect the poultry meat supply chain in Uganda such as (1) Arable land for feed production: The poultry sector is facing the challenge of lacking adequate area for feeding. There is a competition for feeding other animals using the same land which hinders the growth of the European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.12, No.18, 2020 sector. (2) Power blackouts: Uganda is facing a consistent power cut off and reduce the source of energy for the poultry farmers. These challenges increase the expense to the farmers on the alternative source of energy. (3) Vaccines: The country lacks adequate plants for the production of vaccines. The non-availability leads the farmers to import the vaccines from abroad, which increase the price cost to the farmers. (4) Infrastructure: The road network to and from farms to major markets located in urban or rural areas are not fully tarmacked and not optimal. Therefore, access to markets or sources for inputs is difficult (Vernooij et al., 2018).

2.2.3
The poultry sector in Kenya Agriculture sector contributes about 25% of GDP in Kenya. The poultry is one of the major sub-sector in the country contributing 30% of the agricultural contribution to country GDP (Omondi, 2018). The poultry population ins Kenya is estimated to 31 million birds where indigenous chicken representing of 75%, broilers representing 22%, layers representing 1% of breeding stock and other poultry species such as ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, ostriches, guinea fowls and quails representing 2 % of the poultry production. The indigenous chicken is mainly found in rural areas; broilers and layers are kept in urban regions . The commercial poultry sector is producing over one million chicks per week. The features of the commercial market are a growing urban population and growing retail sector such as fast food branches, supermarket branches and restaurants. This rise the need for effective management of PMSC to enhance right time deliveries to the market.
The poultry sectors are hindered by several challenges to facilitate the effective supply chain of the products from farmers to the markers. Some of the challenges include (1) Transportation and logistics: The transport infrastructure is disrupting the movement of products from the farmers in a rural area to the market. The quality of roads is poor, which hinder the development of commercial poultry and supply chain of poultry products from ensuring high quality and timely delivery.
(2) Processing: Similarly, like in other East Africa countries, processing units is still a challenge to small farmers across the countries. Although some of the larger farmers possess their units, but the quality attributes of the processing are not impressing. (3) Marketing: The marketing for poultry meat is very stiff due to the existence of substitute products of chicken meats like beef and pork. Never the less, the access of smallholders to the market is fragile and tight which give a chance middle man to take the lead and reduce the prices for chicken at the farm gate and high prices at retail (Vernooij et al., 2018).

2.2.4
Poultry Sector in Rwanda The Poultry meat production in Rwanda has increased from 13,700 tonnes in 2010 to 45,000 tonnes in 2018. Currently, Rwanda has 15 large commercial poultry farmers and over 222 small commercial poultry farmers for growing layers. In contrast, there are ten large commercial farms, 25 medium farms, and 20 small farms for growing broilers. Rwanda's chicken population has increased from 3.5 million in 2010 to 7.6 million in 2018 (Mbuza et al., 2017) (www.newtimes.co.rw). In Ruanda, the national government provide enormous support for the poultry sector for inputs provision and searching of the market in neighbouring countries like Uganda and Congo. This Significant and tremendous investment in the poultry sector has set and give Rwanda a competitive advantage as a foreseeable exporter of poultry products in the region (Miklyaev et al., 2017).
Despite the effort taken to transform the poultry sector in Ruanda, there are several challenges which hinder the industry as well the supply chain and distribution system of poultry products such as meat and eggs. Those challenges include (1) Quality of the inputs. Currently, a majority of the small farmers prepare to mix their feeds. The quality of feed is also a big issue throughout the country which reduce the quality of the final products. (2) Technical knowhow: Predominantly at the producer level and for smallholder and medium-scale farmers, lack of knowledge and technical capacity that negatively affects their production capabilities. There are no practical poultry specific training institutions in Rwanda. Tertiary education institutions do not specifically offer training in poultry but general veterinary training in livestock. (3) Supply chain coordination. Small farmers in Ruanda like in any other country in the region lack the coordination due to the poor flow of information from the downstream to the upstream side. When the market is geographic dispersing and complex give a tough time for the suppliers in upstream to know the demand pattern (Vernooij et al., 2018).

2.2.5
Poultry Sector in Burundi The production of poultry meat for Burundi was 6,980 tons in 2018. In contrast, the production of poultry meat in Burundi has increased from 2,700 tons in 1969 to 6,980 tons in 2018 with a growth rate of 2.02% (www.knoema.com). According to FAO, the socio-political crisis in Burundi has plummeted the growth of the poultry activities in the country over the past decade. Furthermore, the poultry sector was hit by the outbreak of avian influenza in the 2000s, which affect the growth of the sector for a decade severely now due to poor control of the virus by the government. It is estimated that the influenza virus affects 80% of chickens in Burundi and lead to an unquantifiable loss (Hosny, 2006). Several challenges hinder the sector as well the growth and supply chain system of poultry products including the social-political crisis, poor transportation infrastructure in rural regions, quality problems of the incoming inputs for poultry farmers, lack of adequate poultry processing units, and weak distribution system of poultry products (Chauvin et al., 2012).

2.2.6
The poultry sector in South Sudan The agriculture sector accounting for about 80 percent of employment in Southern Sudan's economy as the European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.12, No.18, 2020 majority of the population depends on the agriculture sector. The livestock in South Sudan contributes significantly to meeting the food and income needs of peoples through the consumption of meat, milk and other products. The poultry meat remained stable in South Sudan production is around 20,000 tons in 2018 (World Bank, 2019). However, South Sudan is the lagging behind in development and growth of the poultry sector due to repeated bouts of violence in the country since 2013. The industry is constrained by livestock disease outbreaks; low productivity exacerbated by chronic droughts and insecurity; a lack of adequate marketing infrastructure; and poorly organized and informed herders and traders (FAO, 2019).

Global review on Poultry Meat Supply Chain
In the global level, PMSC has been hailed across several countries as one of the pervasive strategies to boost the poultry sector and agriculture at large due to globalization (Manning and Baines, 2004). According to Manning et al. (2007), The supply chain includes both inter and intra organizational trade in poultry meat. Supply chain organizations that are involved in poultry production include producers and processors, e.g. farms, hatcheries and processing factories. Also, suppliers of goods and services, e.g. feed supplements, medication, veterinary advice, transportation and distribution, waste disposal, technical support, import/export agency and insurance. Furthermore, in downstream it includes purchasers of poultry meat, e.g. retailers, food service, poultry fertilizer, pet food.  (2004) Globalization: a study of the poultry-meat supply chain.

Desk research
The paper discusses the influence of globalization on poultry-meat supply chain. Factors that affect current and future developments in food globalization include the relative strength of currencies; the speed of technology transfers to developing countries; tax and regulatory burden in nation-states or trading groups; the cost of capital and labour and its effect on competitiveness; continuing production specialization and greater differentiation between domestic and international meat trade; production methods, food safety and hygiene standards. Manning et al. (2008) Benchmarking the poultry meat supply chain.

Desk research
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how a pre-requisite programme and key performance indicators can be developed within an information management system to manage food safety, animal welfare and business performance criteria effectively in the poultry meat supply chain and seek to deliver continuous improvement. Manning et al. (2007) Trends in the global poultry meat supply chain.

Desk research
The purpose of this paper was to analyze the current status of the poultry meat supply chain. The study revealed that a poultry meat supply chain has more significant influence on the financial stability of the organization. Djekic et al.
Transformation of quality aspects throughout the chicken meat supply chain.

Filed Research
The purpose of this paper is to analyze perceptions of quality in the chicken meat supply chain. The quality aspect in processing units is among the impeding factors that hinder chicken meat supply chain. Vo and Thiel (2011) Economic simulation of a poultry supply chain facing a sanitary crisis.

Simulation model
The study provides the model that can be used as a decision system support which aims to minimize the costs due to stock level increases as demand decreases as well as exceptional external purchasing sparked by the lack of available poultry products. Mohamed et al. (2013) Measuring competition along the supply chain of the Malaysian poultry industry

Field Research
The study provides critical analysis on the competitive market environment within which firms in poultry industry operates. Several factors should be considered such as number and size distribution of buyers and sellers (market concentration), barriers to entry, the shape of cost curves, the extent to which firms are vertically integrated or diversified and the price and information transmission process among vertically or spatially integrated markets. European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905(Paper) ISSN 2222-2839(Online) Vol.12, No.18, 2020

Research Methods
This study used a desk research review method. To achieve the objective of this study, the author conducted an intensive review of documentary information relevant to the poultry sector in East Africa countries and global at large. The researcher reviews the regional poultry development for eastern Africa, countries poultry sector review, agricultural strategic plans, FAO reports on country poultry status, and research reports conducted by researcher and institutions in respective countries concerning poultry meat supply chain. The journal articles and paper reviewed in this study was those who published between 2010 to 2020.

Research Gap
After scrutiny of the empirical literature on the agro-supply chain, the research found that existing of literature in East Africa region exist in poultry studies. However, there are limited studies which focused on Poultry meat supply chain. Never the less majority of those studies are not published in a reputable journal. In bottom line, it shall be significantly essential to conduct research work on exploring the poultry meat supply chain in East Africa region to understand the status and encountered challenges to arrive at a concrete solution to assuage this severe problem in the region.

Results
Based on the literature review on the published journal articles for ten (10) years in East Africa, the content analysis revealed there is lack of empirical literature concerning poultry meat supply chain (PMSC) in East Africa. Table  2 indicates the journal articles reviewed that was published in a reputable journal between 2010 and 2020 conducted in EA member states. Majority of the study concerning the poultry meat sector was published in Kenya while studies in other state partners are not impressing. Never the less, there were any studies found using google scholar engine that was conducted in Burundi based on the categories of search used. This indicates that Burundi is lag behind in the development of the poultry meat sector in the region followed with South Sudan. This has concurred with world bank report of 2018 on addressing the fragility and demographic challenges to reduce poverty and boost sustainable growth who revealed that the social-political crisis in Burundi and South Sudan had plummeted the development of the agricultural sector in the country and region at large. fragmented agricultural supply chain, poor marketing infrastructure installed for poultry products, weak transportation infrastructure, imperfect market conditions for poultry products, ineffective warehousing and storing facilities, lack of effective packaging, lack of branding and certification for poultry meat produced in local markets, lack of adequate market information about poultry products, low productivity for small scale farmers yield resulting in the truncated quantum of quantity, difficulty in accessing finance for small scale farmers, inadequate safety and security of poultry meat, lack of sophisticated technology reducing production capacity of poultry meat, inadequate availability of power in the countries. For the transformation and development of the agricultural sector in East Africa region and specifically the poultry meat supply chain, variety of measures may be taken by the region and partner states: Supply chain is an engine of economic growth worldwide, the poultry meat sector is in East Africa region is fragmented and work in isolation despite the existence of the regional integration and mutual trade between state partners. The development of the poultry meat sector will be determined through the integration of the supply chain downstream and upstream of the spectrum. The coordination of the supply chain from the original suppliers who are the small scale farmers are indispensable to enhance the sufficient flow of the products to the other side of the supply chain. The transformation in the poultry sector should incorporate the bigger picture of the supply chain and not only subpart of the value chain. The value chain is a subset of the supply chain which should be integrated with other units to enhance the development of the sector. Farmers in poultry should be encouraged to join association and cooperatives, which give them more power and influence of the country and regional level. The agricultural policies should have emphasized on contract farming as one the critical aspect of the supply chain. Contract farming is a good development towards this direction.
Furthermore, although at a regional level, there are framework and policies that govern the poultry sector. A review should be done on time due to globalization to meet the standards and speed of the global market in providing competitive pressure. In a nutshell, if the regional member work collectively, the poultry sector is a strategic sector for the regional development in the future. The EA member state should resolve the tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the transportation of the poultry and agriculture products at large. Based on the studies conducted by Okute (2017), tariffs barriers and non-tariff barriers (TNTB) is a major problem in the region the hinder the development of effective supply chain of the agricultural sector and particularly poultry products.
More studies need to be conducted on the side of the supply chain of poultry products. For instance, future study might focus on the impact of logistic infrastructures on the development of a supply chain of poultry products in the region. This will enable us to understand the impact of the infrastructure as one of the main barriers for the timely transportation of the poultry products from small scale farmers who are farming in rural areas. Due to advancement of technologies, it will be interested in the future study would be conducted to determine the effect of technology (i.e. information sharing, traceability technology etc.) on the development of supply chain of poultry products in the region.