By Eniola Ojo
The Stakeholders in the Poultry Association of Nigeria have cried out to the federal government to save the poultry industry which is very important in Nigeria’s agricultural sector from imminent collapse due to the scarcity or non-availability of maize which is the most important component of poultry ration.
The Chairman Poultry Farmer Stakeholders of Oyo State, Rev. Owolabi Tunde who was part of dignitaries that addressed newsmen during the press conference held at the secretariat of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Elerumoke, Ajia Ibadan highlighted the problems facing the sector which could spell doom for the country.
Rev Owolabi in his submission said the industry is presently worth 3.3 trillion naira, and is contributing 25 percent of agricultural gross domestic product and creating over 25 million direct and indirect jobs in the country.
“However this industry has been under tremendous challenges since the turn of the year with the poultry sector losing over 30 billion naira as a result of the ill implemented naira re-design and cashless programme of the CBN. As if this’s not enough, the recent scarcity and non-availability of maize is life threatening to this important sector of the economy.
“Maize which constitutes 60 percent to 70 percent of the poultry ration has suddenly become unavailable, threatening the survival of our birds. Maize production projection for 2022 was estimated to be 23 million metric ton while the annual demand estimated at 30 million metric tons leaving us with a shortfall of seven million metric tons”, said CEO of Jmages Chicken Firm.
He added that “this shortfall needs to be augmented with imports as urgent as can be. With the 2020 ban on importation of maize, Nigeria farmers have been caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
“We at PAN wish to state that we are aware of the government declaration of a state of emergency on food security in the country but the present situation of the poultry industry demands urgent intervention to save us from imminent collapse”.
While highlighting the challenges facing the PAN members Rev Owolabi stressed that: “we in the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Oyo State, decry the present situation of maize in the country.
As farmers are shutting down farms, our members are failing in repayment of loans; poultry farmers are developing hypertension and slumping on their farms, the breeder sector is losing over four billion naira per month due to the present challenge in the industry.
“Commercial egg farms are collapsing due to the high cost of production and diminishing purchasing power of the average Nigerians. Commercial broiler farmers are not smiling due to losses of high cost of production plus deluge of poor standard imported chicken and turkey meats in various markets”.
