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Record prices of maize and soybeans are hurting the Nigerian poultry industry, resulting in massive job losses, farmers have said.
Soybeans and maize are two key inputs in the formulation of poultry feeds.
A metric ton of maize currently sells for N910,000 as against N480,000 per metric ton in 2023, indicating an 89.6 percent rise in price in one year, according to a BusinessDay’s market survey.
Similarly, a metric ton of soybeans now sells for N714,000 as against N425,000 in the corresponding period of 2023, representing a 68 percent increase in price.
Prices of maize and soybeans are high due to low productivity resulting from insecurity and climate change. The impact is that there are fewer people involved in the poultry business due to high cost of operations and consumers’ low purchasing power.
Nigeria is the second largest grower of maize in Africa, but it has seen a huge shortfall in the grain.
According to experts, the continuous price surge in the two key ingredients for poultry feeds poses a major threat to poultry businesses and food security in the country.
Sunday Ezeobiora, president of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), told BusinessDay that owing to the worsening insecurity in the country, maize production has dropped by 50 percent in a year, estimating current production at 7 million metric tons (MT).
He noted that the poultry industry alone needs over four million metric tons of maize annually to meet farmers’ demand.
Ezeobiora noted that the record maize and soybean prices have shrunk the industry value by 45 percent, from N10 trillion in 2022 to about N5.5 trillion currently.
He further said that declining demand for eggs, supply chain disruptions, high cost of feed, foreign exchange scarcity, avian influenza, and accelerating inflation are threatening the existence of several farms.
He urged the federal government to address the issue of insecurity to enable farmers to return to farms and grow enough maize for the entire country.
According to PAN, the industry lost 25 million jobs in four years owing to its persistent challenges.
Growth in the poultry industry fell by 23.29 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 from a contraction of 30.57 percent in the same period of 2023, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Experts say the consecutive contraction mirrors the challenging situation in the industry.
Onallo Akpan, an Abuja-based poultry farmer, said demand for eggs and poultry products has continued to slow as inflation erodes consumers’ purchasing power and forces many to cut down on purchases.
“From exchange volatility to the high cost of feeds, to supply chain disruption, to smuggling and the current low consumer demand induced by accelerating inflation and naira scarcity, it has been a chain of problems for the poultry industry since 2020,” said Akpa, who is also the director-general of PAN.
“Lots of farms are closing down owing to these challenges,” he said, noting that the government’s recent move to import maize to crash prices is insufficient to support the industry owing to a myriad of challenges facing farmers.
Nigeria’s poultry sector is among the subsectors creating the most jobs in the country’s agricultural sector, according to experts.
Read also: Increasing local inputs in feed production seen to boost Nigeria’s livestock industry
BusinessDay findings show that a kg of frozen chicken now sells for N5,000 as against N3,600 sold last year, while a crate of eggs now sells for N5,500 as against N2,600 sold in January.
Ahmed Popoola, director of F.A Popoola Farm Project, said since the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, farmers’ production costs have doubled.
“Monthly, the prices of feeds, vaccines, and drugs and all things we need for our poultry farm keep increasing,” Popoola noted.
Ibrahim Kabiru, president of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, said due to debilitating issues affecting the poultry industry, he had to shut down one of his poultry farms in the North last year because he was running at a loss.
His situation is similar to what millions of poultry farmers are currently experiencing across the country.
The constant surge in prices of poultry products is making it difficult for many Nigerians to purchase eggs and chicken.
This is putting the country’s protein consumption at risk and the egg per day drive of the government for children. Egg is a major source of protein, especially for low-income earners, but it is now out of reach of the poor.
The country’s per capita daily protein intake is estimated to be 45.4g against the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) minimum of 53.8g.
With eggs currently eluding many Nigerian households owing to the continuous rise in prices, the country’s per capita protein intake gap will further widen and the number of malnourished persons will increase, farmers say.
