Abstract: _________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 94, No. 4, 2016
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Animal protein is an essential element that helps the body grow and compensate damages resulting from nutritional imbalances. Average per capita share of animal protein is one of the most important indicators for population growth and advancement. Main sources of animal protein addressed in this research include red meat, white meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. And despite the fact that consumers prefer red meat, there exist other alternative sources that are cheaper and in the same time provide an individual with most of the daily needs of animal protein at the level of urban and rural areas.
The research aimed to identify the current state of national production and consumption of animal protein from different sources; study the evolution of average per capita, surplus, shortage, and rate of self-sufficiency in animal protein; study the structure of consumption expenditure, and derive the elasticity of expenditure on animal protein components for rural and urban area over the period (2000-2013). In addition, the research studied the structure of consumption expenditure for the mentioned sources according to price levels, and estimated the price elasticity for animal protein group over the same period.
The research reached the following results
The production levels of red meat, white meat, milk, eggs, and fish have been increasing at rates estimated at 0.66%, 1.27%, 2.81%, 4,44%, and 5,46%, respectively, which proved statistically significant at 0.01 level, except for red and white meat.
The annual pricing for red meat, white meat, milk, eggs, and fish have been increasing at rates estimated at 1.54%, 1.62%, 1.28%, 5.01%, and 3.86%, respectively, which proved statistically significant, except for red and white meat.
The average per capita share of animal protein has also been increasing on annual basis. However, such increase proved statistically significant only for fish, which can be due to fluctuations in average per capita share over the study period.
With regard to the surplus and shortage of animal protein, results showed a shortage in red meat estimated at 4.4% per annum; a shortage in milk estimated at 8.7% per annum; and a shortage in fish estimated at 10.8% per annum during the study period. Results also showed a surplus in eggs and white meat at annual rates estimated at 1.42% and 40.24%, respectively.
The results regarding self-sufficiency in animal protein sources showed declines in self-sufficiency rates in red meat, white meat, and eggs estimated at 0.99%, 0.31%, and 0.42%, respectively. By contrast, results showed increases in self-sufficiency rates of milk and fish, estimated at 1.62% and 1.65%, respectively. However, declines in red meat and eggs did not prove statistically significant, whilst proved significant for white meat, milk, and fish.
The results of estimating the elasticity of demand for meat at the level of rural and urban areas, and country level over the study period showed that it amounted to 0.59, 0.66, and 0.61, respectively; whilst amounted to 0.85, 0.83, and 0.87 for fish, respectively; and amounted to 0.57, 0.56, and 0.49 for milk and eggs, respectively.
The results of estimating the price elasticity of demand for the main sources of animal protein, i.e., buffalo and cow meat, sheep, domestic chicken, white chicken, tilapia, mullet, and catfish, showed that it reached 0.5, 0.44, 0.55, 015, 0.06, 0.05, and 0.05, respectively.
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