Poultry Association of Nigeria((PAN) has raised the alarm over the condition of poultry industry in South East and South South geopolitical zones in the country.
The association said the industry in the two zones was facing myriad of challenges including kidnapping and killing of farmers in the industry, high cost of inputs, high exchange rate, inflations and low demand of finished products that has grounded poultry among others.
This was contained in a communiqué issued by the zonal vice chairman of the association, Onu Izuolisa and Secretary, Monday Ejiegbu.
The association condemned the spate of kidnapping and killing of its members in south east especially in Enugu state and wondered why their hardworking members would be targeted and cut down in their prime.
“The southeast zone of poultry association of Nigeria, is a major component of the industry in the country as it boasts of approximately 25% of poultry engagement in the country especially in the area of poultry meat and table egg production.
“InSpite of the myriads of challenges confronting the industry the south East poultry industry has managed to survive from sheer doggedness of the poultry farmers who have only had their passion for the trade to drive and keep them going.
“The poultry industry has had to contend with several problems that challenge its continued existence ranging from the bird flu, Covid 19 pandemic and most recently the poorly thought out cash swap policy of the erstwhile government.
“Today we are grappling with the negative effect of the fuel subsidy removal and flighty rate of naira exchange which have all conspired to make poultry raw material very exorbitant and these expectedly reflect directly on the price of the finish product so much so that farmers can no longer afford feed for their chickens.
“The industry in the zone has in recent times been buffeted by all manner of -challenges ranging from scarcity and high cost of poultry inputs such as maize and soya, high exchange rate, inflations and low demand of our finished products that has basically grounded Poultry Farms as -perishable products could not be sold.
“The reality is that presently, input prices like Maize and Soya has increased by over 200% leading to high production costs, farms are quickly downsizing and shutting down due to inability to sustain production, the low purchasing power of the naira occasioned by the ever increasing rate of the dollar has made it difficult for farmers to access feed for their chickens”, the association stated .
It called for resuscitation of all the strategic grain reserve in south east and south south to save millers and farmers the grueling challenge of transporting grains from outside the zones with all the attendant risk.
“CBN and the ministry of agriculture should as a matter of urgency consider the release of vital grains like maize and soya from the strategic maize reserve SMR and the strategic food reserve SFR to poultry association of Nigeria at a subsidized price to cushion the effect of the rising cost of these materials in the market and its attendant inflationary effect on the industry.
“As at today the prices of soya and maize ranges between N530,000 to N550,000 per ton and the prices is still rising every day, therefore urgent release of maize and soya at discounted price to farmers will go a long way to mitigate the current challenges in the poultry sector.
“About fifty percent (50%) of poultry farms are already shut down with many more likely to follow suit. The consequences of this scenario and its negative impact on agricultural Gross Domestic Products (AGDP), employment and availability of healthy protein to the Nigerian masses can best be imagined.
“Since the Poultry industry is the most capitalized subsector of the Nigerian Agricultural industry, every effort and support should be given to the subsector so that the Industry does not collapse and the country once more becoming dumping grounds for all sorts of Poultry and Poultry products from abroad.” ENDS
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