The Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria has reported that its members have suffered significant losses due to the shortage of Naira currency in the country.
According to the association’s National President, Mr. Sunday Onallo-Akpa, who spoke in Abuja on Friday, over 15 million crates of unsold and damaged eggs, worth more than N30 billion, have been lost in the industry. The poultry industry is one of the most consolidated subsectors of Nigeria’s agriculture, contributing about 25% of the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP) and employing over 25 million Nigerians, directly and indirectly.
Onallo-Akpa highlighted that the poultry industry has been a major source of employment and financial empowerment for many families in Nigeria, particularly women and youths. The industry is completely private sector-driven, worth over N3 trillion, and has contributed to the local domestication of investments in the country. However, the negative consequences of the new currency policy on the industry have put it on the verge of total collapse and extermination.
The absence of Naira notes for daily transactions has made business in the poultry industry more challenging. Eggs produced by poultry farmers since the first week of February 2023 have remained unsold, with only 20% of them being off taken due to the near absence of Naira notes to buy basic food items and other necessary proteins like eggs and chickens. Therefore, Onallo-Akpa has called for urgent intervention by the Federal Government to save the industry from eminent collapse.
In addition to urging the government to mop up the eggs through the association for distribution to the most vulnerable old populations as part of the Social Investment Support to Nigerians, Onallo-Akpa also appealed to the Presidency to direct various agencies to work with the association on how immediate reliefs can be extended to poultry farmers across the country. This would prevent the collapse of the poultry industry. The PAN president also appealed to the government to make available direct grants and financial support to the industry through the association in special packages to be worked out by the government and the association.
