After BusinessDay’s story, Lagos moves to support poultry farmers

After BusinessDay’s report on poultry farmers’ plight, the Lagos state government has commenced operations to mop up at least 300,000 eggs as farmers are suffering a glut caused by the naira scarcity.

Among the sector’s challenges was the recent cash crunch suffered across the country. This caused a low demand for eggs.

As birds will not suspend laying, poultry farmers had more eggs than was being demanded.

BusinessDay narrated the plight of farmers on two occasions when it wrote: “Poultry farmers lament low demand for eggs amid naira scarcity”, and “Nigeria’s poultry industry squeezed amid shocks”.

In view of this, the state government has intervened in bringing sustainable solutions to the fore as regards the egg glut problem confronting poultry farmers in the state.

“The Ministry of Agriculture has facilitated the offtake of a minimum of 300,000 eggs from the Erikorodo Poultry Estate in Ikorodu by a private firm – Farm Alert Ltd,” a press statement made available to BusinessDay said.

This is after weeks of visits and negotiations by Abisola Olusanya, special adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Agriculture, and other senior ministry officials towards ensuring that all parties are in agreement on modalities of the offtake.

The operations commenced on Monday, 10th April 2023. “This support from the state government shall further enhance the development of the poultry value chain in Lagos,” the statement said.

The poultry farmers operating within Erikorodo and Aiyedoto poultry estates form a large percentage of registered farmers under the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) – Lagos State Chapter, and the move, according to the statement, will enhance the food security agenda of the State Government.

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The estates’ poultry farmers mentioned that the recent egg glut issue was aggravated by the cash crunch and closure of schools, amongst other factors.

Olusanya stated that “on our part as government, the administration of Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu will continue to put measures in place to create a conducive environment for farmers to operate in line with efforts to ensure sufficiency in food production in the State”.

“Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos state governor, has championed the food systems transformation plan with the overall objective of improving the livelihood of the agricultural value chain actors towards wealth creation, job security, increased inclusiveness in sectoral policy formulation with a view to production and supply of wholesome nutritious foods to Lagosians,” she said.