Nigeria poultry industry calls for 'state of emergency' declaration

A significant rise in animal feed ingredient prices, particularly corn and soy, has Nigeria's poultry industry calling for the government to declare a state of emergency in the country's agriculture sector.
According to Dr. Femi Faniyi, state chairman of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Ogun State Chapter, diesel has gone up 25%, groundnut cake 40%, soybean 55% and maize 36%. “It is important that food must be made available cheaply," said Faniyi. "But the biggest challenge we are having is that prices of feed materials keep going up and thus affecting the price of egg." The prices of eggs and poultry are rising to combat costs, but according to the industry the prices are growing beyond consumers' abilities to pay.
The association said that the government should give input subsidies to farmers and guarantee prices of the commodities. Policies that favor poultry farmers and regulations that will stabilize prices on the consumer end are also necessities, according to the industry.