The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has raised an alarm over the impending loss of about 10 million jobs in the poultry industry due to the scarcity of maize and soya beans.
The statement was made by the General Secretary of PAN (South-West) Dr Olalekan Odunsi, in a press conference held in Ibadan, he stated that the acute shortage of maize and soya beans which are major components of poultry feeds had caused business failure for some poultry farmers, urging the government to urgently consider importation of animal feed grade of maize to save poultry industry from collapse.
While also urging the South-West governors to encourage maize production in the region, Odunsi reiterated that investment in poultry is worth about N2tr and it provides jobs for about 10 million others in the value chain.
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“The scarcity and astronomical prices of soya beans and maize are threatening additional five million poultry jobs in the short term except Your Excellency intervenes. “After much public outcry by the poultry farmers, a concession was given to some poultry stakeholders to import 262000MT in 2020. This had long been done and at the onset of harvest which was November 2020, it was obvious that our local production was grossly inadequate to support the poultry industry through 2020.
