Poultry farmers are lamenting the decision of the government to ban the importation of the products into the country. BAYO AGBOOLA reports that the farmers are alleging that the decision would mark the end of the poultry industry.
If the lamentations of poultry farmers from across the South western parts of Nigeria and even beyond are anything to go by, it would not be out of point to say this is not the best of the time.
The poultry farmers under the umbrella of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) on Tuesday August, 11 stormed the Press Centre of Oyo State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to raise alarm about the near collapse of the industry should the federal government sticks to its stand on the ban placed on importation of maize, which according to the farmers, stands as the mainstay for the survival of poultry industry when it comes into feeding the chicks.
Their grouse
To the poultry farmers, there is nothing special in the ban on the importation of maize and other food items that can be locally produced or sourced within Nigeria, but the issue at hand concerning maize is, according to them, ill-timed and not good for the growth of the economy considering the serious decline in global economy arising from the negative impact of the CoronaVirus pandemic.
Speaking through the state chairman of PAN, Mr Agboola Gbemisoye, the farmers lamented that the industry is presently on the brink of precipice with farmers losing about N1trillion annually and the industry recording nothing less than one million job loss going by the fact that the present dearth of maize in the country is threatening the survival of poultry industry and immediate action is much needed on the part of the federal government to salvage the industry as well as prevent imminent collapse by relaxing the ban placed on importation of maize, among others.
The farmers stated, “Maize constitutes between 50% to 70% of chicken feeds. It is the cardinal input of poultry business. Due to high demands for maize by humans, there has been an unhealthy competition for this all important staple food. The problems of insecurity and flooding has made it impossible for farmers to go to the farm. The few tonnage of maize has been hijacked and cornered by speculators, opportunists and political jobbers who also think it is their birthright to dictate the going in the industry.
“The truth is that we do not presently have sufficient maize for poultry industry use. We were recently invited to Abuja. All we had was how to offtake the maize to be produced in the next planting season. How do we sustain poultry feeding till the next planting season? Between March and July this year, many poultry farms have either downsized or folded up because they either cannot get maize to produce feed or cannot afford to buy finished feed to feed their chicken. The seeming proactiveness of the federal government was the release of a few tonnage of maize to states. We read about the much publicised release of trailers of maize to Lagos state poultry farmers. We are still expecting those meant to cushion our hardship in Oyo state. However, it must have gone the usual route to office poultry farmers. In the light of the foregoing, Poultry Association of Nigeria is using this opportunity to call on Mr President to relax the ban on importation of maize for a period, to use this time to release the grain reserved across the country and to release all available palliatives to cushion the effect of maize scarcity to teeming suffering grass root farmers”, he said.
Gbemisoye added, “This is to allow this essential grain to be available for feed production while we increase local production to meet up with the demand of maize. This appears to be the only way out and the most assuring pivot that the government is serious in revamping agriculture in this country. We know that some individuals are feeding the presidency and state government with false information that the country has enough maize as of now to satisfy the demand of both human and livestock, but the present hardship has proven this wrong.
There is a dearth of maize in Nigeria as of now. These individuals are agents of destruction and mean capitalists set to hijack the industry, squeezing out life and existence from poultry farmers. They know that importation is the only way their monopoly can be broken, hence their vehement opposition of the move. They claim the ban on importation of rice has paid off but they forgot that maize and soya are the only grain and seeds consumed by both humans and livestock. Only rice bran is fed to livestock, not the grain. We at least need succor till the next set of maize yet to be planted will be ready.
“Globally, agriculture provides essential raw materials for industrial growth and development. It is the saving grace for most developing economies, providing employment to citizens of countries now engraving their names in gold among the world economic powers. Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil Indonesia, even the war-torn Vietnam, among others, are thriving fast on gains of agriculture. Nigeria, a third world country is blessed with vast arable land spreading from the rain forest in the south up to the Sahel region in the north. Arable land that supports cultivation of almost every known crop. However, Nigeria since the late 70s, can never boast of producing enough food for herself in terms of human need and livestock production. Little wonder Nigeria is unarguably one of the poorest countries in the world despite the rich wells of crude oil”.
The farmers maintained further that, “Several young and old people have taken their fate in their hands and stuck out their necks to engage in the poultry sector. “Despite seasonal challenges, poultry in Nigeria, especially in the south-west, has become the saving grace for most families. Holdings ranged from small holder farmers with two hundred birds to large farms with thousands of stocks.
The industry employs a large number of hands as workers because operations are mostly manually accomplished and large numbers of workers are relatively needed for its operation. Virtually, none of the thriving poultry concerns have received any assistance from any government at different levels. Yet poultry contributes immensely to the GDP of the states. Oyo State prides herself as the poultry hub of South-west and Nigeria. Despite many besetting waters and industry turbulence, poultry has established itself in Oyo state and from there blessed many states in Nigeria, especially in day-old-chicks and eggs production.”
Other factors they alleged
Highlighting other factors militating against poultry industry, the farmers stressed, “We do not need to emphasise the persisting perennial, seasonal and/sporadic egg glut, perpetually increasing price of inputs and multiple levy and taxation by the agents of government. Most recently, the untold ordeal escalated and nearly unbearable due to unfavorable government dispositions and regulations. As we speak, agencies and individuals in the name of local and state government agencies are making daily trips to poultry farms to harass farms for several illicit and other arrears of levies, taxes etc. We know every government supports agriculture globally for obvious reasons but not so in our own Oyo state and that COVID-19 lockdown has sent several farms to their early grave and some poultry concerns already on the verge of collapse. The price of maize which was N80/kg in March 2020 has crept to N180/kg today and is still increasing. As if that is not enough, we now have the ban on importation of maize.”
Amidst the gloomy pictures painted by the poultry farmers on the future of the poultry industry, they were left with no other option than urging the president and governors to use their good offices to prevail on powers to stop antagonizing farmers.
