Meat consumption rises 60% in four years in Lagos

There has been a steady rise in the level of meat con- sumption in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, as figures made available to BusinessDay show an in- crease from between 4,000 and 5,000 animals slaughtered daily in 2011 to over 8,000 in 2014, an increase of about 60 percent in four years. Of this figure, 2,000 are cattle while 6,000 comprise of goats and pigs.

This is, however, aside imported processed meat mainly by top ranking hotels to further close the demand gap. Yaqub Basorun, permanent secretary in the state Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, in an interview with BusinessDay, attributed the increasing appetite for meat to upsurge in population which puts demand for foods at above supply. Although the 2006 national population census put Lagos at over nine mil- lion people, the state government estimates the current population of the state at over 21 million. Basorun also established a nexus in population demographics which favour younger people who consume more meat than the older citizens (50 years and above).

The permanent secretary also linked the development to improved hygienic condition of slaughter slabs in Lagos, which, he said, continues to bolster the confidence of the meat consuming public. There are about 11 approved slaughter slabs in Lagos, the major being Oko- Oba Abattoir where most of the animals in the state are slaughtered. “There is consistent effort by the government to see to improved hygienic conditions of all our approved slaughter slabs. We have a committee consisting of officials and stakeholders in meat distribution chain who daily monitors to ensure that standards set by the government regarding meat slaughtering are strictly adhered to. Our records over the last five years show that more people are now consuming meat because they see that measures adopted by the government are working,” he said.

The permanent secretary listed such measures to include the introduction of the refrigerated Eko Meat Van which, according to him, apart from ensuring that what is conveyed is not exposed, helps keep the meat fresh from slaughtering to delivery for consumption. He said over 200 of the refrigerated vans are in operation. Other measures, he said, are training and exposure of stakeholders including butchers to international best practice, citing state sponsored visit in 2014 of stakeholders to Kenya to understudy meat processing, with the aim of replicating same in Lagos, as well as regular clampdown on illegal abattoirs in different parts of the state. Gbolahan Lawal, the commissioner for agriculture and cooperatives, during a recent visit to Oko-Oba Abattoir, in Agege, where over 80 percent of meat consumed in the state is slaughtered, restated the resolve to raise the standard at the abattoir.