High costs and insecurity driving farmers out of business
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Chicken and other poultry products may further go up in price as farmers struggle to break even despite price rises of about 100 per cent in December which forced households to seek alternatives.
Funsho Olasoju, a resident of Egbeda in Lagos disclosed the price of the same size of chicken he bought in an open market in 2021 increased by N5,000 in December 2022.
“The chicken was meant for my in-laws. In 2021, I bought seven chickens [at N7,000 each], which I distributed to people. At rate of N12,000, I couldn’t afford to give anybody during the festive period [in 2022], except my in-laws,” he told The Guardian.
“For our consumption, we sought an alternative – we resorted to buying live turkey, as the price difference was not actually much.”
Funmi Ojerinde, who resides in Abule-Egba, said the two sets of chickens she met at her customer’s shop were far beyond her reach.
“The two sets of chicken I saw were Broilers and Noilers, at the rate of N16,000 and N24, 000, respectively. I was shocked. If I had enough money on me, I would have bought a sizeable goat, which shouldn’t be more than N20,000 at the period,” she said.
“At last, I got from one of the landlords in my area at rate of N7,000. Though still on the high side, I managed to buy for my family to get something to celebrate the Christmas.”
A crate of eggs which previously sold for between N500 and N750, now goes for between N2,500 and N3,000, forcing many to abandon egg consumption.
Poultry farmers fear the prices of poultry products may increase further in the months to come if the rising cost of raw materials is not addressed.
Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Lagos chapter Chairman Godwin Egbebe expressed regret that about 10 per cent of poultry farmers in the state are no longer in business and those in operation are struggling to stay afloat.
“This unpleasant development is due to the high cost of raw materials for the production of feeds and other logistics. The sad news is that the price is still going up,” he lamented.
“I also mill feeds. The feed that I normally produce for N308, 000 per tonne, is now over N358,000.”
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Poultry business no longer profitable
“Even selling my eggs at the farm gate price of N2,000 per crate is not giving me any profit. When I told my customers that I want to increase the price to N2,100 they were begging me. Will begging stop the problem?” Egbebe asked, per The Guardian.
“If care is not taken, one will not be able to continue with this business as a lot of our members have closed shop. About 10 per cent of poultry farmers in Lagos are no longer in business. Few of us staying put are just trying to survive.”
Ogun PAN Administrative Secretary Temitayo Oguntola listed the high cost of feeds and fuel and incessant kidnapping of farmers as major contributing factors to the challenges.
Said he: “The problem of the industry had persisted over the years, but the farmers have been managing it. Those who couldn’t manage are folding up.
“At the peak of 2022, the prices went up because of the increase in the cost of feeds caused by high cost of raw materials, especially maize and soybeans.
“More importantly, we observed that it wasn’t only agriculture that was affected, but the entire economy of the country was affected, especially the high dollar rate because most of the products used for feed production are imported.”
Oguntola said a bag of layers mash that sold for N5 200 in January 2022 increased to N6, 600 around December, and broilers starters mash sold for N7,000 hiked to between N10,400 and N11, 000.
“These led to high cost of poultry produce. For instance, a crate of egg goes for N2, 200 at the farm. For any farmer to survive, a crate will need to sell for between N2,800 and N3,000 in local areas, Let’s not talk of Port Harcourt, Lagos, and other states,” he explained.
“Due to the level of insecurity in the land, most farmers are leaving the comfort zone of their farms for other businesses.
“Poultry farmers were the targets of kidnapping in 2022. I can say precisely that in our association, there were more than seven kidnapping cases, some of the victims relocated to other countries.
“In fact, towards the end of the year, in October and November, we had serious kidnapping cases where over N20 million ransom was paid.”