Poultry farmers want FG to halt maize, soybeans export

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has urged the Federal Government to halt the export of maize and soybeans to ensure the availability of the commodities and reduce the cost of poultry production.

Ichie Ezeobiora, National President of PAN, made the appeal at the 2nd edition of the Nigerian Poultry Summit on Friday in Abuja with the theme “A Foundation for Food Security and National Development.’’

Ezeobiora, who identified maize and soybeans as a major source of poultry feed and a contributing factor to the high cost of poultry production due to insufficiency in the country, said exporting the commodities would further compound the challenges in the industry.

“It is being observed that some people are already on the prowl to export all the basic staple grains out of the country this season, threatening the food security and nutrition of the country.

“Since over 70 percent of the cost of poultry production is grains, that is, maize and soybeans, the average Nigerian has been bedevilled with a high cost of production orchestrated by the prices of raw materials.’’

The president listed other challenges as the COVID-19 outbreak, which paralysed all businesses globally, the CBN currency redesign policy, and multiple taxations.

Others, according to him, are the dearth of infrastructure such as stable electricity, pipe-borne water, and post-harvest losses to farmers due to epileptic or inadequate electricity supply, high tariffs, and high production costs.

Ezeobiora, who identified the poultry industry as the most capitalised subsector of the country’s agricultural sector, said it contributed over 25 percent to the livestock agricultural GDP of the national economy.

He further said the sector was worth over N10 trillion and had provided over 10 million direct and indirect jobs to those involved in the entire value chain of poultry production.

He said that the industry made it possible for the increased utilisation of staple crops like maize and soybeans, which constitute over 70 percent of the cost of poultry production.

“The industry has been facing the worst challenges in the past four years to the extent that the gains recorded in the last 20 years will be eroded and wasted.

“The country will be the worst if the federal government does not come in to support the industry at the moment.

“We cannot afford once again to become the poultry dumping ground for Europe, America, and South American countries,” he said.

The president listed other achievements of the sector as poultry production standardisation and certification and robust collaboration locally and internationally.

Ezeobiora said such collaboration had helped to build the capacities of poultry producers and those in the entire value chain.

“Example is the tripartite partnership between PAN and the U.S. Soya Export Council, and the council has trained Nigerians on various aspects of poultry, aquaculture, agronomy, especially soybean production, feed milling, and other extrusion technologies,” he said.