The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has warned that unless the Federal Government intervenes, egg prices will continue to rise for Nigerians as poultry farms continue to close due to economic hardships, including currency fluctuations.
This was revealed on Friday in Abuja by Mr Pius Aminu, Chairman, FCT Chapter of PAN, commemorating the 2022 World Egg Day with the theme “Egg for Better Life.”
They urged the FG to intervene in the sector with farmer grants.
What PAN said:
They disclosed that the contributing factors to the hike in the price of eggs as the closure of most farms, lack of access to credit facilities by the farmers, high cost of maize, soybeans, and other micro-ingredients for poultry feed production.
PAN said the increase in egg production is due to the high cost of feed across the country, thereby making it unaffordable to farmers, they also cited insecurity and lack of access roads to poultry farms among others, despite high demand.
Aminu lamented that at the moment, demand for the product was higher than the few farms presently in production.
At the moment it’s very difficult for the price of eggs to come down, rather it will continue to rise because the demand is higher than supply due to several farms that have closed down.
We are not sure how much we will buy eggs in the next month, it may go as high as N2,500 or more as the case may be.
Exchange rates is really affecting micro ingredients used to formulate feed; so, for now, we do not know but definitely I can’t guarantee that price will remain as it is now, he said.
PAN urged the government to help farmers by providing grants, making loan facilities flexible and easily accessible to farmers, and ensuring their security.
See also: IMF talks with Ghana to be expedited-Finance Minister
Mrs. Edith Onyeji, PAN’s Financial Secretary, urged the government to assist farmers with marketing and value addition for eggs, among other things, by providing technology to convert eggs to powder form.
Facts
- The current price of a crate of eggs ranges between N1800 to N2, 000.
- It was reported last month that The closely watched indicator, food inflation rose to 23.12% in August 2022, representing a 1.1%-point increase compared to 22.02% recorded in the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in July stood at 1.98%, this is 0.07% lower than 2.04% recorded in the previous month.
- According to the NBS, the rise in food inflation was caused by increased prices of bread and cereals, food products, Potatoes, yams, other tubers, fish, meat, oil, and fat.
