Effect of COVID-19 on the Marketing of Eggs: Case of Egg Layer Projects during the Pandemic in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

ABSTRACT The government of South Africa assisted beneficiaries with the establishment of projects to help alleviate poverty and create jobs in the country. Several projects were established amongst them: broiler production, vegetable production, and egg layer production. The focus of this study is on egg layer production. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the marketing of eggs in the Vhembe district of Limpopo province, South Africa. In this study, the research design, which involved investigating the effect of COVID-19 on the marketing of eggs during the pandemic in the Vhembe district, using qualitative and explorative research was employed. The study employed focus group discussions where 7 members of the project from a total of 3 projects were interviewed. Egg layer projects have experienced a market loss of eggs during the past three months, structured interviews were also carried out with 1 extension officer in the college of agriculture who is responsible for conducting training and monitoring of such projects. The coded data were then analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version 22). The egg layer projects were facing the low market return of egg sales because of competition with commercial farmers who bring the stock to the local market. In conclusion, it is presumed that the results of this study would lead to informed decisions by the department of agriculture in terms of arranging markets and making sure that the commercial farmers do not compete with the projects in terms of prices of eggs.