Rising price of maize, has threatened the continuous existence of poultry farms in Nigeria, the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, has said.
Price of maize, the major contituent of feed for birds, was seen climbing above N40,000 per bag in the major producing states, he subsector, a situation PAN said was pushing the poultry subsector in Nigeria a point of crashing if the government failed to salvage the industry.
In a statement, the association said, “At the moment, the poultry industry in Nigeria is on the verge of total collapse if urgent intervention is not channelled to it without further delay.
“We are aware that the government has declared a state of emergency on the food security situation of the country, but the situation of the poultry industry calls for an urgent intervention to save the industry from total collapse.”
The statement, which was jointly signed by PAN’s National President, Sunday Ezeobiora, and Director-General, Onallo Akpa, stated that there had been an upward surge in the cost of maize, forcing farmers to shut down their operations.
It said, “The high surge in the price of maize and the near absence or scarcity of the product is causing farmers to close down their poultry farms at the moment because it is no longer sustainable to feed the birds and be in business.
“This is threatening the further development of the Nigerian poultry industry.”
Farmers in dire search for buyers
Findings also revealed that the price of eggs, a daily protein source for many Nigerians, had soared by over 118.34 per cent after maize importation fell by 97.91 per cent.
According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, the price of one agric egg medium size rose to N89.17 as of May 2023 from N40.84 as of May 2020. This was as the importation of maize, a major component of poultry feeds, fell to $1.82m as of the end of 2022 from $87.08m as of the end of 2020 according to data from the International Trade Center.
Appealing to the government for partronage, the Chairman of the PAN, South-West Zone, Rev. Oluleye Gideon, said “They should help in mopping up about 15 to 20 million crates of eggs and chicken unsold in the economy right now to ameliorate the losses of the farmers.
“These products should be used in feeding the people in IDPs and all our correctional centres all over the country. “Some could also be used in the government hospitals where meals are served as eggs helps for quick recovery and in building up the immunity of the sick patients.”
Farmers running at a loss
Mr Godwin Egbebe, National Publicity Secretary of the PAN, said farmers were running at a loss, “Due to the current egg glut, major poultry farms have now dropped their prices and are encountering total loss.
“At large farm gates, a crate of eggs now goes for as low as N1,700 and N1,800 as against N2,000 or N2,100 that was sold just weeks ago. “The egg glut is on the increase, the farmers are churning out eggs every day but there are low demands following the cash crunch in the country.”
