We Can No Longer Breathe, Our Sector Inching Towards Total Collapse -Poultry Farmers Cry Out To FG, CBN

The Poultry Association of Nigeria, (PAN) South West Zone has urged President Bola Tinubu, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Governors from the Southwest to save the poultry subsector from total collapse.

Speaking on behalf of the association yesterday in Ibadan, Rev Gideon Oluleye, the PAN Chairman, South West Zone stated that the challenges facing the association are enormous, while stating that the issue of naira redesign dealt a major blow to the viability of the sector that farmers have not recovered from.

He further stated that the removal of fuel subsidy has caused a galloping increase in the cost of inputs in the subsector, which has made it worse for farmers in the country to operate.

His words: “Recently some maize were allocated to farmers by C.B.N and the commodity exchange, as part of intervention to bring down the soaring prices of maize in the market. About 40,000 metric tons was allocated at N220,000 and N225,000 per ton to farmers, while the farmers officials were still trying to negotiate a reduction in the price per tonnage which we farmers felt is too high for an intervention programme, that the commodity exchange gave a deadline of two weeks payment to access the maize.

“Only few farmers and stakeholders could meet the deadline and the commodity exchange and C.B.N cancelled and withdrew the allocation immediately at the expiration of the deadline. A few states like Oyo, Ekiti and others paid at the brink of the deadline, and yet the commodity exchange went ahead to cancel the allocation. All efforts to convince the commodity exchange to renew the allocation at the initial price given, proved abortive”, he said.

The PAN chairman revealed that the marketeering strategy to hoard the maize had cause unnecessary scarcity in the market, which had led to increase in the high cost of maize in the open market. He revealed that the cost of maize in the south west is about N400,000 – N430,000 per ton which is not affordable to farmers.

He further lamented that the price of maize which was formerly sold at N225,000 – N230,000 in the South West, now cost about N400,000 – N430,000 as a result of hoarding the item by the commodity exchange.

Rev Gideon, therefore, advocated for the reduction in the price of soybeans for poultry and livestock sector of the country while calling on the federal government and the CBN to subsidize and grant a short importation for maize and soya beans in order to bridge the short fall currently experiencing in order to preserve the sector from collapsing.

Adding to the solutions, “We are appealing to the Federal Government to grant access to capital through the C.B.N for long term lending and grants to the sector and create structures that will facilitate sales of our products.

“The Federal Government should use our products in feeding the inmates at our correctional, IDP Centres and government hospitals and appoint two officials of poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) as members of the committee managing the strategic grain reserve”, he appealed.