Egg scarcity looms as hatcheries fail to meet pullet demand

Nigeria is on the brink of witnessing a scarcity of eggs, as hatcheries across the country fail to meet poultry farmers’ demand of pullets, BusinessDay findings show.                                                          

Poultry farmers are finding it difficult to increase egg production and many queue for months to get pullets- young birds which mature into egg layers.

“The situation now is that you cannot go into any hatchery to get pullets immediately. You have to wait for at least six months. I booked for pullets since October last year and I couldn’t get any. I had to collect my money back after six months,” Dayo Gawati, managing director and chief executive officer, Fdot Farms Limited, said in a telephone response to BusinessDay questions.

“Egg production will drop, since farmers cannot get pullets from hatcheries easily,” Gawati said.

Gawati observed that prices of poultry inputs such as feed and day old chicks, have increased, leading to the recent rise in the prices of eggs across the country.

Eggs contain protein and are favoured across the board in Nigeria, especially by the burgeoining middle-class and children. Eggs likewise serve as a staple for young Nigerians between the ages of five and 40, which make up over 60 percent of the country’s 170 million population.

The scarcity of pullets has also led to a drop in the sale of feed for  layers. “I had to cut down on the quantity of chick mash and pullet grower used in feeding the few pullets I have because I have not been able to re-stocked due to the scarcity,” said Akinlolu Mufutau, president, Ajara Farm Settlement, Badagry-Lagos.

“Two things are responsible for the shortage of pullets in the country right now.  First was the uncertainty during and after last year’s elections, when farmers were not buying day old chicks. This made a lot of hatcheries to scale down production,” said Ayoola Oduntan, national president, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).

“The second reason is the spread of bird flu  to many states, which made it difficult for poultry farmers to restock. The shortage is going to be temporary because farmers are now stocking,” said Oduntan, who is also the group managing director of Sieberer Hatchery Limited. 

According to Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria currently imports about five million eggs per day, from South Africa and other countries. 

Avian Influenza virus, otherwise known as bird flu, struck in 24 states in Nigeria last year and  early this year. It caused damages worth over N1.8 billion, leaving about 2.7 million birds destroyed in its wake.

This left farmers with no choice but to sell most of their birds before their farms got afflicted, while those already affected did not restock. This dropped the demand for day old chicks, forcing hatcheries to scale down production.   

FX scarcity was also cited as one of the factors responsible for the scarcity. “Many hatchery owners were caught in the FX scarcity because they depend on the importation of fertilised eggs which they hatch and sell,” said Ismail Bukar, co-founder and head of operations, Caerphilly Farms Limited.

“There are those who have the parent stock on ground and didn’t get affected in the FX drama. They are the ones who continue to supply but can’t meet demand because it is very high,” Bukar said. 

He further said that the price of day old chick has increased form N120 to N300 per bird.

Nigeria is currently challenged by shortage of inputs, low yields, poor access to finance, land tenure system, sabotage and policy flip-flops, all of which point to imminent food insecurity.                                 

Bukar said government needs to consult with hatchery owners to find a solution to the problem before it escaltes.

Josephine Okojie