The National President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Ezekiel Ibrahim, has warned that the poultry industry might be forced to shut down by January 2021 if urgent actions are not taken by the government to address the high cost of grains and other challenges facing the industry.
Mr Ibrahim disclosed this when speaking with journalists in Abuja on Thursday.
He said, “In view of the above negative impacts and disaster that will befall the Nigeria poultry industry if urgent actions are not taken immediately by the government, the industry might be forced to shut down completely by January 2021. The present atmosphere and scenario of things are very alarming and critical.”
“In the post-COVID-19 and the lockdown that followed, the poultry industry suffered devastating losses occasioned by the restriction of movement of goods and services, which include eggs, day-old chicks, poultry feeds, and other essential inputs for poultry production.
“Billions of naira were lost in sales of eggs and chicken resulting in the closure of many small and medium-sized poultry farms.
“With the attendant fallouts and the grains supply situation in the country, the prices of maize went up from N95,000 per tonne to N165,000 per tonne in June 2020.
“Maize as at today 26th of November is selling between N145,000 – N160,000 per tonne as against the price of N85,000 per tonne this time last year.”
According to him, “The government supported the industry with the release of 5,000 metric tonnes of maize at subsidised prices expecting that the price of maize will fall or stabilise during the harvest season.
He said, “the reason for scarcity and the hike in cost is due to the insecurity in the country, climate change and activities of traders buying and hoarding of the grains.
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