The Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Ogun State chapter, Idowu Asenuga has expressed concern over increase prices of feed in the poultry which he described has unprecedented in the business.
Asenuga said Nigerians should expect increased hunger in the coming year as things are getting worse in the sector.
He lamented the hike in prices of feed in the poultry and the aquaculture sub-sectors, which he said have forced a lot of farmers to close shop, while crop farmers are being troubled by cattle and herders.
He further said that the sector fared badly in 2021 in the sense that prices of raw materials reached rooftop, saying it was unprecedented.
“The poultry sector witnessed unprecedented hike in grain prices, soya going up to N400,000 and maize up to N250,000 per ton which is unprecedented and of course the prices of feed from N2,800 in 2019 to over N6,000 in 2020 for layer feed and for broiler it went upward to over N8,000 per bag”, he said.
He said that year 2022 may be worse, noting that this is maize and soya season and the prices of soya is about N400,000 per bag and maize has gone up to N230,000 per ton.
“For 2022, I don’t know what is going to happen. All I know is that Nigerians should be ready for hunger. That is the reality. Things are only getting worse and from the look of things it can only get worse.
“Our birds are dying, avian influenza is affecting our birds and the government is not allowing us to bring in vaccines for the birds and the government is not compensating us either. Nigerians should be ready to go hungry,” he added.
