Farmers’ Union says chicken shortage could return if key issues not addressed

Trinidad and To­ba­go Farm­ers’ Union pres­i­dent Shi­raz Khan has warned that the cur­rent chick­en short­age could re­cur with­in the next six to 12 months if Gov­ern­ment and stake­hold­ers fail to ad­dress long­stand­ing is­sues in the poul­try sec­tor.

Khan stressed that the prob­lem did not arise overnight, not­ing that farm­ers have been rais­ing con­cerns since ear­ly 2025.

He added that chal­lenges in­ten­si­fied af­ter bird flu was de­tect­ed in the Cay­man Is­lands last De­cem­ber, forc­ing lo­cal farm­ers to adopt stricter biose­cu­ri­ty mea­sures such as in­stalling fine mesh around pens to pre­vent wild birds from en­ter­ing.