High cost of operation has led to over 30 per cent of poultry farms shutting down nationwide within six months, the Poultry Association of Nigeria has revealed.
This was disclosed by the National Publicity Secretary, PAN, Mr Godwin Egbebe, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Lagos.
He noted that the high cost of operation has largely contributed to the high cost of eggs in the country.
Egbebe said, “About 30 per cent of local poultry farmers nationwide have shut down their farms due to the hardship faced in the sector in the first half of the year.
“The government needs to know the severity of the situation poultry farmers are facing in the sector.
“The palliatives are not alleviating the ills in the sector, we seek sustainable solutions to the problems on the ground.
“The palliatives most times even end in wrong places rather than with legitimate farmers. Most farmers are leaving the sector because they cannot sustain the cost of operating their farms. Some have sold their cages and some have sold their farms.”
He, however, urged local poultry farmers to exercise patience and not to impulsively close their farms.
He added, “We are appealing to our members that the current challenges in the sector is just a phase and they should not give up on the sector.
“There is actually no sector of the country that is not going through challenges currently, but we cannot allow the sector to collapse.
“If the farmers sell off all their cages and equipment, they may not be able to come back to the sector when things get better.”
Egbebe also mentioned the increasing cost of feed as another major challenge confronting the sector.
He said, “The price of poultry produce keeps increasing because the price of feed increases every other week.
“As of two weeks ago, we bought 25kg of feed at N14,300, just this past weekend, it is now N14,800.
“Early this year, we bought a bag for N12,000 and it sold for N9,000 last year. The increment is affecting the sector.
“Transportation cost is also another major bane of the sector, transportation of poultry produce increases the cost.”
In the same vein, the PAN Lagos State Chairman, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, also attributed the hike in the price of eggs to scarcity due to the closure of farms by poultry farmers.
He explained, “The reason for the current hike in the price of eggs is that eggs are very scarce now.
“Most farmers have sold off their old layers, and to get new stock is very expensive as the price of a day-old chick is becoming unbearable.
“Farmers able to buy day-old chicks are considered to be well-to-do. Also, a majority of our local farmers have shut down their farms due to the high cost of feed.”
SOURCE: PUNCH
