Nigerian poultry farmers have requested the federal government’s intervention in the industry to stop the collapse of the country’s poultry farms.
According to the farmers, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new naira redesign program is to blame for the current state of affairs. They claim that when the naira shortage occurred, they were still attempting to recover from the terrible impacts of Covid-19. Therefore, they encouraged the authorities to collect 20 million egg boxes that had not been sold.
The South-West Zone Chairman of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Rev. Oluleye Gideon, made this announcement during a news conference in Ibadan.
The Poultry Association of Nigeria pleaded with the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to prevent the industry from completely collapsing, saying that other government initiatives including the redesign of the naira had a negative impact on the business.
PAN claimed that farmers lost several billions of naira as a result of the redesign of the naira, which created a naira shortage.
“We, farmers are not opposed to the policy, but the timing and method of implementation have caused us great suffering. If the government does not immediately step in to help poultry farmers, several farms have collapsed, others are operating at half capacity, and many others will soon close.”
PAN requested the FG’s developmental agencies to clean up to 20 million crates of unsold eggs and chicken in order to prevent the 6% of GDP contributing sector of the economy from completely collapsing.
“They should assist in clearing up the estimated 15 to 20 million crates of unsold chicken and eggs in the market at this time to lessen the farmers’ losses.
“These things ought to be used to feed the residents of IDP camps and all of our prisons around the nation.”
PAN also noted that some could be used in government hospitals where food is provided because eggs aid in a patient’s speedy recovery and immunity-building.
They pleaded with foreign grant-making organizations and donor organizations including the World Bank, IFAD, NG-Cares, and the Private Financial Advisory Network to assist chicken producers in Nigeria, particularly in the South-West region.
“We want CBN and the Federal Government to assist in offsetting a portion of the loan and, in some cases, completely canceling the loan,” the statement added.
“The farmers will be able to recover as a result, preventing the sector’s collapse. Let the government form a commission to start collecting all poultry and eggs that haven’t been sold.”
Due to the negative consequences of the currency scarcity problem in the nation, the Nigerian poultry industry lost more than 15 million crates of eggs worth more than N30 billion.
The National President of the Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunday Onallo-Akpa claimed that the industry lost 15 million crates of eggs due to the inability of traders to sell the produce amid cash scarcity.
