The Poultry Association of Nigeria on Monday, raised the alarm over the persistent hike in the price of maize – a major feed for birds in the subsector, saying, poultry farms across the country are currently shutting down operations.
PAN also warned that the development was capable of running down the poultry subsector in Nigeria if the government failed to salvage the industry.
The association in a statement jointly signed by the National President, Sunday Ezeobiora, and Director-General, Onallo Akpa disclosed this .
The association stated that there had been an upward surge in the cost of maize, forcing farmers to shut down their operations.
PAN 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 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.”
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.
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.
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