August 28, 2020

Nigerian poultry farmers plagued by corn shortage, high prices

The shortage of corn, which is used to produce feeds, has become a grave concern for Nigerian farmers, who have appealed to the federal government to come to their rescue.

Joel Oduware, a member of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Lagos Chapter, noted that corn, which constitutes over 60% of poultry feeds, was very scarce and that prices were rising constantly.

"The local poultry industry does not have maize at the moment; a lot of farms are stuck and have subsequently shut down operations", he told the News Agency of Nigeria, as per report of Naija247News.

"The ban on the importation of maize is not making the commodity affordable to local farmers to run their poultry production costs", he added.

Oduware also said the local corn production in the country "is too low" and not meeting the demand of feed mills.

The shortage and high price have also resulted in the increased price of locally processed chicken, according to the farmer, as per report.

Sorghum 'poor alternative'

Oduware said local poultry farmers have resorted to alternative materials in producing feed meal such as sorghum, but that it "is too light in nature and cannot provide the energy the birds need to thrive".

"Maize is critical as an energy source for poultry and not sorghum. Sometimes the farmers combine sorghum and wheat meal as feed, but they need to add enzymes to break down the wheat", he said.

He called on the government to allow the importation of corn to fill the supply demand.

"I appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to lift the ban and allow importation of maize into Nigeria since our local maize farmers cannot meet up with the demand required by consumers", he said.

The government has sought to attain grain self-sufficiency and has included corn in its list of crops that it  plans to expand areas under production and improve production methods in partnership with the private sector.