By FELICIA IMOHIMI

The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) says the poultry industry is on the verge of collapse if urgent steps are not taken to address the situation.

The association said this in a joint statement, signed by Chief Sunday Ezeobiora, National President of PAN and Onallo Akpa, Director General of the association, on Monday in Abuja.

PAN identified the rising cost of prices of maize and the scarcity of the product, as the cause of farmers closing down their poultry farms at the moment.

It said it was no longer sustainable to feed the birds and be in business, thereby threatening further development of the Nigerian poultry industry.

“We are aware that the government has declared a state of emergency on food security in the country, but the situation of the poultry industry calls for an urgent intervention to save the industry from total collapse.

“The poultry industry is one of the most critical sub-sectors of agriculture, and allowing the industry to collapse on the watch of Nigerians, will be a disaster.

“Also a disaster to the protein supply and nutrition security for the country.

“The industry is currently being frustrated by the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the Strategic Maize Reserve (SMR) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), hence it was allocated 40,000 metric tonnes of maize to assist poultry production in the country.

“In two weeks, they cancelled the allocation and stopped poultry farmers from lifting the maize for reasons best known to them, thereby contributing to the rising cost of the commodity.

The association however, directed NCX and the CBN, managers of strategic maize reserve programme, to ensure release of the 40,000 metric tonnes allocation to the sector, to salvage it from imminent collapse.

It further urged government to direct the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to release 20,000 metric tonnes of maize from its strategic food reserves to the industry, through the association at discounted prices.

The measure, according to the association, will mitigate the current challenges facing the industry in the country.

“Since the poultry industry is the most capitalized sub-sector of Nigeria’s agriculture, every effort should be made and every support should be given to it, so that it does not collapse, making the country a dumping ground for all sorts of poultry and poultry products from abroad.

“The poultry industry is the low hanging fruit to achieve the overall objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), providing employments, while producing affordable home grown proteins to Nigerians,” PAN said in the statement. (NAN)

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