Poultry farmers lament continuous ban on forex for maize importation

AS the ban on forex for maize importation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), continues, poultry farmers and maize suppliers have lamented the effect it is having on the maize value chain.

Some of them who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune noted that the shortage of maize has resulted into underfeeding of birds in the poultry because of the non -availability of feedmill of which the limited available ones are expensive, a development that is causing low production of eggs.

In a viral video which trended on some social media platforms few days ago, a female poultry farmer was seen lamenting the effect of the shortage of maize which she attributed to the ban on forex for its importation by the CBN.

She narrated how her birds could not produce good number of eggs as they used to because of underfeeding.

A poultry farmer, Mr Sunday Pius, who rears both broiler and layer birds, said his birds no longer feed properly due to the unavailability of feeds as a result of the scarcity of maize.

“The painful thing is that there is very limited feed available in the market.

When we complained to the local companies that produce feed, they said they can’t produce feed due to maize scarcity,” Pius said.

“At this point, we are really suffering; the government should do something and help us survive,” he added.

Another poultry farmer, Mrs Bukola Sangodeyi, described the current scarcity and price rise of maize as a threat to the poultry business.

“The government is trying to discourage the importation of frozen chicken and majority of us poultry farmers are trying to go into broiler production and processing.

But with this increase in the price of maize and the non-availability, I really don’t see how we are going to survive,” Sangodeyi said.

Similarly, a maize supplier, Mr Chukwuemeka Uchendu, said the poultry industry is in dire situation as a result of the scarcity.

“We are getting to the point where there will almost be nothing available for anybody to use. On a normal day, when you go to buy maize in some markets, you can fill 40 trucks. Currently, you can’t even fill a truck. The scarcity of maize is a major problem right now.”

Sanni Muazu, a Bauchibased maize supplier said his search for maize to supply his customers has been fruitless.

He said that the high prices and the scarcity of the crop had instilled fear amongst animal feed manufacturers.

“This sector is under serious threat as a result of the acute shortage of maize in the country. To worsen this case, recently the CBN also banned the importation of maize.

This has further worsened the problem of the poultry farmers in the country to the extent that this sector may soon collapse,” he stated.

The Central Bank of Nigeria blocked access to foreign exchange for maize imports as it seeks to boost local production, stimulate a rapid economic recovery, safeguard rural livelihoods, and increase jobs which were lost as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, a major player in the Nigerian poultry value chain, chairman of Folhope Nigeria Limited, Chief Emmanuel Folorunsho Ogunnaike, while commenting on the matter said: “It is an erroneous impression that egg price is on high side.

“Within March this year to the month of August, price of maize has risen from N86,000 to N175,000, that is more than double. With the current egg price, no farmer is breaking even. If eggs should go less than N1400 per tray, farmers can not make required profit.

“Challenges facing the livestock industry are too numerous. Cost of egg production has gone up more than necessary, fish farmers could not find measurable selling price to cost of production.”

Another major stakeholder, chief executive officer, Spring Plantation and Processing Company, Mr Ola Emmanuel, blamed the shortage of maize to COVID-19 pandemic because farmers went to the farm late for cultivation because of the restriction of movement.

“Poultry farmers should jettison importation of maize. Importation of maize takes three months to arrive Nigeria. And if farmers plant here, it takes two months to harvest.

Therefore, my opinion on this issue is that poultry farmers should use the money meant for Importation to support local farmers to embark on mass production, then the difference will be clear,” he said.

Meanwhile, poultry farmers and maize farmers in the country have expressed divergence views over the availability of maize in the market for the production of feeds for the poultry subsector of the Nigerian agricultural value chain.

Poultry farmers, while expressing displeasure over the import prohibition on maize, insisted that there is inadequate suspply of maize in the market for purchase, but maize farmers said grain merchants have maize in their stores, but are selling at a high cost.

In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, the Director General of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Onallo Ankpa, said since June this year, there has been scarcity of maize.

Meanwhile, the National President of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN), Dr Abubakar Bello, said maize can be purchased from grain merchants but at a high price.

He said, however, farmers would commence harvest of maize by September this year, which is expected to force down the price of the commodity in the market.

“Since early June this year, there has been scarcity of maize, and we saw that the situation may not improve because the new maize will not come out about this time, and it will not dry for you to have the required moisture content of 12 to 13 per cent to enable you use it for poultry feed until December or January.

“Based on this, and looking critically at the poultry industry requirement for maize for six to seven months, that is between June and December, we decided to write to the president to grant us the permit to bring in maize from the United States.

“As an association, we are already in talks with the United States Grain Council and they are ready to grant us some waiver and some basic taxes that will get us maize at good prices for the use of poultry industry before the new maize comes out.

“And what we did as an association is that by the time we wrote to the President, traditionally, we needed to copy the relevant agencies and ministries of government; we are to copy the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Governor of Central Bank, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation”, Dr Ankpa said.

He said by the time the CBN governor got wind of the letter, it didn’t hold stakeholders consultation, instead they placed ban on maize importation.

“I don’t even think he had a discussion with the Ministry of Agriculture either. The next thing he did the following day was to put maize in the import prohibition list.

“Part of our own argument is that we have a common objective for this country. The common objective, whether you are in the private sector or government, is that we have to see to the development of the economy of this country.

“I continue to advocate that we should have constant stakeholders engagement.

This thing is not rocket science. If I send in a request that I need maize because of the plight of my industry, it is just for you to reply me and call me for an emergency meeting, then we will dialogue, within 72 hours, we will come up with a way forward”, he added.

He said the essence of the maize importation was not to bypass the local market, instead it was a move to temporarily access maize while the Nigerian farmers harvest theirs.

“Not everybody can afford the price of egg and chicken because maize and Soybean constitute over 75 to 80 per cent of the cost of production of chicken.

“A lot of farms are closing down now. That means a lot of people are going back to the unemployment market,” the DG PAN noted.

The national president of MAAN, Dr Bello, said in the South-West maize harvest would commence first week of September.

He, however, said the current maize scarcity was normal, but was complicated following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Actually, you cannot say that there is no maize; there is maize. The issue is that this is something that is normal every year during this season. There is a shortage of maize during this period; in addition, this COVID-19 also contributed.

“The maize that is available now is with the grain merchants. That is why the price is high; and every year, during July and August, this is normal, because the one that was produced the previous year will be getting to an end before the new one comes. So now we are heading to harvest the new crops which have already started in some areas, especially in the South-West.

“So, if the new maize starts coming, the price will start coming down, that is the normal. So it’s not that there is no maize, there is, it’s only that the price is high, and the reason why it is so high more than every other year is because of this COVID-19. Our prayer is by September this year, maize will start coming and the price will drop,” he noted.

 

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