The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State chapter, is requesting a licence to import maize to alleviate production costs in the sector.
Mr. Mojeed Iyiola, the chairman of the PAN Lagos State chapter, stated this during an interview with the press on Tuesday in Lagos.
According to him, the cost of poultry products, such as eggs, cannot decrease at present due to the rising cost of poultry feed.
Iyiola explained that production costs have surged since the beginning of the year, prompting the association’s appeal for an import license.
He said, “The licence for the importation of maize is being given to few hands, and they are importing for their selfish gains. If they even decide to sell to poultry farmers and feed processors , they still sell at the same rate the open markets are selling to us.”
“So even the import waivers for maize is favouring is poultry farmers. That is why we are appealing to the government to give us as an association, the right to import our maize ourselves.”
“When we import our maize directly, we can now sell to our members at affordable rates which will in turn reduce our cost of production. Buying from middlemen cost us a lot. For the import waiver policy to be effective and beneficial to the poultry sector, we should be given the licence to import ourselves,”
He explained that the prices of eggs cannot come down now because feed producers are increasing the cost of feed by a minimum of N800 every three days.
He added that the grower feed, which was sold at N3,500 for a 25kg bag at the beginning of the year, is now being sold for almost N13,000 per bag. He also pointed out that no matter what you feed a layer, it cannot lay eggs twice a day.
According to Iyiola, the egg-laying process is a cycle that must be completed before the birds can lay again. He expressed concerns that with the growing production costs, eggs are gradually becoming unaffordable for the poor.
He emphasised that this is unfortunate because a single egg contains all the nutritional requirements needed by the human body.