Pig Farmers Seek Grants to Revive Value Chain

Some Swineherds, also known as pig farmers, in Lagos State, have appealed to both the Federal and State Governments to give them financial grants in order to resuscitate the pig value chain.

Speaking on behalf of the herders, the president of Oke-Ako Piggery Farm Estate, Agege, Lagos, Mr Adewale Oluwalana, made the appeal in an interview on Thursday in Lagos.

Oluwalana said that the grant would enable the pig farmers to start afresh and save the sector from total collapse.

He said that nobody could actually quantify how much was required to revive the value chain, following the huge loss recorded in 2020 due to the outbreak of African Swine fever which destroyed animal worth over N10 billion.

Oluwalana noted that the piggery would require a lot of resources and government support to become fully operational.

He said that many pig farmers were  struggling to survive and revive the value chain, adding that some have lost their lives due to depression, stress and frustration.

“We are still expecting government intervention apart from what they gave to us last year. They gave us maize and sorghum as empowerment, but that is not what will revive a N10 billion investment.

“We have not yet received anything like grant and we learnt that Federal Government has been giving grants to people, but they have not consider for us for any grant.

“There is no amount of money that is too small to support us; we just need some support and commitment on the part of the government.

“We want government to look at our case with mercy and support us with whatever they can afford. We are not Oliver Twist, we are not demanding too much and we cannot dictate.

“We have made so many efforts; we have visited the Lagos State Ministry for Agriculture and we have dialogue together but nothing much has been done,” he said.

Oluwalana urged the Ministry of Agriculture, both at federal and state levels, to include pig farmers on the grant lists as been done to other value chains including rice, poultry, red meat, cassava and maize.

He noted that majority of the pig farmers presently operating on their piggeries have less than 10 pigs and cannot afford to buy additional animals to expand the business.

Oluwalana explained that the piggery sector contributes a lot to the economy of the country as well as creates jobs for youths and women.

He, however, noted that activities were gradually picking up in the sector as farmers are returning to revive their farms, adding that pig  farming would soon reclaim its lost glory.

“We thank God that the swine fever have gone now, what is left for us is to start afresh, so we can create jobs and also contribute to the economy of the country.

“People are coming back gradually; right now, we have about 2,000 members,” he said.