April 24, 2014

Due to high prices of chicken feeds in the area, poultry farmers in Hadejia, Jigawa, Nigeria have called on the state government to build feed mills to encourage processing and poultry production in the state.

A cross-section of the farmers who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Hadejia said that the measure was necessary to end scarcity and enhance access to the products.

Halima Ismail, a poultry farmer, said that high cost of feeds was making poultry farming expensive and less attractive. Ismail noted that the trend had forced many farmers out of business because they were not making profit. She added that the high cost of the feeds is largely due to the absence of feed mill in the state. She noted that the expenditure on feeds had made them to record losses.

Another farmer, Haruna Aminu, also called for the establishment of hatchery or incubation centres to boost chicks production in the state. "Chicks and feeds are being transported from Lagos and Ibadan and this explains why they are expensive here," he said.

Aminu further called for private sector investment in feeds processing, to encourage production. It was also reported that an average chicken was sold for between NGN1,200 (US$7.40) and NGN1,500 (US$9.30) in the market.