The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has reiterated its commitment to curb the importation of poultry birds (chicken) into the country through its ‘Home Grown Poultry Program’.
This follows the recent call by former President Obasanjo, for the country’s borders to remain shut against poultry importation and smuggling, which according to him will result in a thriving poultry industry.
Commenting on the program, Olusegun Owolabi, the Head of Engineering, who represented the executive secretary said that the project aims to empower women and youth in Agribusiness and boost their incomes and livelihood through sustainable agriculture.
According to Owolabi, the project was a step in curbing the importation of chicken into the country and also helped save foreign exchange.
“We need to take over the business and ensure that we stop exporting jobs, for every product that we import we have exported our employment and for every local thing we consume, we created employment for someone, somewhere in the country.
“NALDA is out to sustain the total ban on importation of frozen chicken for the poultry industry to expand, reduce unemployment and boost the country’s economy by empowering the individual to upscale their poultry production,” he said.
The beneficiaries, drawn from the various local governments of the state, received a 3-tier bird cage, 25 birds and 3 bags of feed.
Owolabi urged the beneficiaries to pay attention to the training and guidance on how to handle the birds for maximum turnover, adding that the program was a revolving one and the sustainability and continuity would be subject to the beneficiary’s commitment.
In his remarks, the Emir of Lafia and the chairman of the Nasarawa Council of Chiefs, Sidi Muhammed appreciated NALDA for trusting and believing in the traditional institution to help facilitate and execute the project.
He however called for more interventions to boost agricultural practices in the state.
He said, “We thank you for finding the traditional institution in the state worthy, using us as the conduit pipe for translating this programme into reality, you have taken the right decision.
“On behalf of the traditional rulers in the state, I want to say that we’ll do our best to justify this choice that you have made.
One of the beneficiaries, Hajara Umar from Awe Local Government Area of the state, commended NALDA for the empowerment, stating that the intervention would go a long in boosting her poultry business, particularly in the area of feed as the price of feed in the open market was quite high.
Another beneficiary, Jamila Haruna from Akwanga Local Government Area, said the intervention is of huge help to her as she can sell and restock to sustain the business.
So far, NALDA has carried out the Home Grown Poultry Programme in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos State in South West Nigeria and Nasarawa State in North Central Nigeria.
