In bid to lessen dependence on imports and boost domestic production, the government in February imposed restrictions on imports of 27 food and drink items.

These quotas apply mainly to staples such as flour and corn and also include eggs, chicken, fish, water and beer.

“These eggs that were imported in large quantities – about 11 million – cannot be introduced into the market and will be destroyed,” the ministry said in a statement seen by AFP on Wednesday.

The maximum import quota for eggs was set at 156 million eggs per year.

About 25 million eggs are produced every month in Angola and the agriculture ministry wants the amount increased by another 15 million.

The country of 24 million people, half of whom live on less than two dollars a day, is heavily reliant on food imports, which account for 90 percent total food consumed.

The oil-rich country aims to boost productivity in agriculture.

Before its independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola was an agricultural powerhouse known for its coffee and rubber production.

But nearly three decades of civil war that left vast tracts of land littered with landmines robbed the country of its farming prowess.