President Bola Tinubu, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the governors in the area have been requested by the Southwest Zone of the chicken Association of Nigeria (PAN) to save the chicken sector from total collapse.
The statement was made by the Zonal Chairman of PAN, Gideon Oluleye, in Ibadan, Oyo State. He noted that farmers have still not fully recovered from the effects of the naira redesign policy and that the industry is suffering significant hurdles.
Oluleye observed that the situation of farmers in the nation has gotten worse because of the loss of the fuel subsidy, which has created a galloping spike in the cost of inputs in the subsector.
“Recently some maize was allocated to farmers by the CBN and the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) market, as part of interventions to bring down the soaring prices of maize in the market. About 40,000 metric tons was allocated at the rate of N220, 000 and N225, 000 per ton to farmers, while the farmers were still trying to negotiate a reduction in the price per tonnage, which they perceive as too high for an intervention programme, the two weeks payment deadline issued by the NCX lapsed.
“Only few farmers and stakeholders could meet the deadline. At the expiration of the deadline, the NCX and the CBN withdrew the allocation. A few states like Oyo, Ekiti and others paid at the brink of the deadline, yet the commodity exchange market went ahead to cancel the allocations. All efforts to convince them to renew the allocation at the initial price given, proved abortive,” he said.
The PAN Chairman stated that the hoarding marketing strategy had led to unnecessarily high prices for maize on the open market. He also stated that the cost of maize in the Southwest is currently between N400,000 and N430,000. This price is out of reach for farmers.
The chairman bemoaned the fact that NCX stockpiling had increased the price of maize, which had previously been sold in the Southwest for between N225, 000 and N230, 000.
Gideon, however, advocated for the reduction in the price of soybeans for poultry and livestock sector, while calling on the Federal Government and the CBN to subsidise and grant a short importation for maize and soya beans to bridge the shortfall currently experienced to preserve the sector from collapsing.
“We are appealing to the Federal Government to grant access to capital through the CBN for long term lending and grants to the sector and create structures that will facilitate sales of our products.”
Elder Oyekunle Omidokun, PAN Chairman for Oyo State, also spoke. He revealed that the agricultural sector has contributed an average of 24% to the GDP, creating jobs for millions of Nigerians, and he urged the federal government to step in and prevent the sector’s impending collapse.
He bemoaned that the high price of Diesel, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), and the lack of available foreign exchange have increased the cost of vaccines and veterinary treatments, and he urged the government to release 20,000 metric tonnes of corn to PAN at a reduced price to help the industry overcome its difficulties. Oyekunle pleaded with the CBN and the NCX to release the corn designated for the poultry business immediately
