December 18, 2013

VIV organises animal protein summit in Nigeria

VIV is organising VIV International Nigeria Summit, the first-ever event for an African country, on the further development of Nigeria's poultry, aquaculture and feed production on 15 January 2014 in Abuja - the Nigerian capital city and political centre.

The one-day summit to be held at Sheraton Hotel at Abuja is organised in partnership with local agricultural corporation Nate Farms Enterprises Nigeria Ltd and received support from federal Nigerian government departments including the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Trade and Investment.

The summit is targeted at farmers, integrators, processors, retailers, government officials and representatives of the feed business. Attendance is free but registration is required.

International experts in poultry and aquaculture will share technical best practices as the foundation for an efficient and effective expansion of animal protein supplies from the nation's farms. There will also be a focus on investment opportunities in Nigeria and on encouraging young people and women to explore employment in the agricultural sector nationally.

Its programme features parallel walk-in sessions of 30 minutes each, covering major poultry themes: Feed and Nutrition; Breeding and Hatching; Farm Management; Health; and Processing and Handling.  These sessions include remarks by specialists from a number of VIV Europe exhibitors for the poultry sector as well as insight into broiler chain production in Brazil, arranged for the summit by the World's Poultry Science Association.

A former President of the Nigerian branch of the WPSA, Professor Mrs Daisy Eruvbetine of the animal nutrition department at the University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, has agreed to be the featured speaker in discussions on the prospects and challenges facing feed and poultry industries in Nigeria. The health segments of the summit have been compiled with the assistance of the World Veterinary Poultry Association.

Nigeria's demand for animal protein will rise rapidly in the coming years, with a population expected to grow to 700 million by 2050 and a strong economy backed by petrochemicals. The federal government has declared agriculture and food production to be top priorities to meet this challenge and the expansion of the poultry and aquaculture sectors are key targets. In fact, Nigeria was recently named by Rabobank as one of the five most promising countries in the world for poultry production growth.

The summit is part of a series of roadshows in several continents leading to VIV Europe 2014 global expo for poultry and livestock husbandry and processing, which will take place in Utrecht in The Netherlands during 20-22 May 2013.