Poultry Farmers Blame Cash Scarcity for N30bn Loss of Eggs

The Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) said its members lost over N30 billion worth of eggs.

The loss is due to the current cash scarcity in the country. Sunday Onallo-Akpa, national president of PFAN, stated that the poultry industry was on the brink of total collapse and extermination.

“The poultry farmers in the country have lost over 15 million crates of eggs being unsold and are damaged,” Onallo-Akpa said. “The average loss to the poultry industry as at this press release is in excess of over N30 billion.”

Poultry Industry in Nigeria Worth Over N3 Trillion

Onallo-Akpa states that the poultry industry in Nigeria has consolidated. It’s a subsector of agriculture and contributes 25% of the AGDP. It employs over 25 million Nigerians directly and indirectly. He noted that the industry is completely private sector-driven and worth over N3 trillion.

Cash Scarcity Making Business Difficult for Poultry Farmers

Onallo-Akpa said that Nigerians face difficulty in their poultry business due to the absence of naira notes for daily transactions. “Eggs being daily produced by poultry farmers since the first week of February 2023 till date have never been off taken by 20% because of the near absence and lack of the naira notes to buy basic food items and other necessary proteins like eggs and chickens,” he said.

Read also: Stakeholders Revisit Nigeria’s Wheat Production Targets

Urgent Intervention by Federal Government Needed

The PFAN president called for urgent intervention by the federal government to save the industry from imminent collapse. He asked the government to provide the industry with direct grants and financial support through the association.

Onallo-Akpa appealed to the federal government to distribute eggs to vulnerable elderly populations through the association as part of social investment support. “Encourage the Armed Forces in various peacekeeping operations, the Nigerian Prisons, the Internally Displaced Persons, and primary schools (School Feeding Programme) to be immediate offtakers of the eggs,” he said.

The PFAN president asked the presidency to instruct different agencies to work together. These agencies include NEMA, the Nigeria Armed Forces’ peacekeeping operations, and the social investment program of the ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management. The goal is to provide quick relief to poultry farmers nationwide in collaboration with PFAN.