The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has stated that the lifting of the ban on the importation of poultry products into the country will collapse the poultry industry in Nigeria.
It rather called on the federal government to address challenges plaguing the industry.
The association made this call during the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Poultry Show in Abeokuta. The event was themed “Mitigating the challenges of the poultry industry: Current perspectives, the role of government and the private sector”.
Speaking during the event, the South-West Zone Chairman, Mr Gideon Oluleye acknowledged that the poultry industry is currently grappling with a multitude of challenges, including the rising costs of poultry feed, which greatly impacts the sector.
In his words,
- “The Federal Government needs to review its recent pronouncement on lifting the ban on poultry products.”
- “Lifting the ban on poultry products will collapse the poultry industry in Nigeria. Rather, the government should support us by facilitating easy access to loans.”
- ”It should also help with marketing our products by collaborating with the poultry industry through policies like the school feeding programme, as well as feeding at the correctional centres and internally displaced person (IDP) centres.”
- “These are situations where poultry products can be included in the feeding scheme,”
Additionally, PAN’s National President, Mr. Sunday Ezeobiora, expressed concerns about the high production costs within the poultry industry and identified funding, infrastructure, and marketing as some of the prevailing challenges it currently confronts.
He said,
- “If these are not handled well, they may kill the poultry industry in Nigeria,”
Backstory
Recall that about a month ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria lifted the restriction placed on importers of some 43 items on access to forex in the official window during the era of former Governor Godwin Emefiele.
One of those items was poultry products- chicken, turkey and eggs.
The poultry industry has been grappling with different issues with the major being the high cost of feeds. Prices of grains used in feed preparation have increased significantly.
Also, the 5% tariff on the import of maize together with the regulation of import permits contributes to the high cost of maize.
Something has to be done, especially with the high cost of feed.
Thanks for the contribution, Udi!
The poultry subsector has become very fragile, and regulations that affect the subsector need to be properly thought through.
Nigeria cannot afford a collapse of the poultry subsector right now. Our poultry has huge potentials that need to be guarded jealously.
I expect that the government will listen to the association and make changes.