Egg price crash: We’re worst hit – Plateau farmers

Poultry farmers in Plateau State have raised the alarm over the level of havoc the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has caused their sector, saying the sector is fast crashing and urgent measures must be taken to revive it.

Speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association, Johnson Bagudu, said they were already at crossroads since the cash scarcity that accompanied the naira redesign policy intensified.

He said that since the crisis began, prices of their eggs drastically crashed and their farmers have been making huge losses, in the sense that a crate of egg that was hitherto sold at N2,100 is now N1,000.

Bagudu said the most unfortunate aspect of the situation is that the prices of materials purchased by poultry owners for production remained the same but prices of the eggs they produce for sale dropped, regardless of their cost of production.

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He said it seemed the naira redesign policy and its attendant hardship were only targeted at Plateau poultry owners because in other states, the business is flourishing and being supported. He wondered why the case of Plateau State, which has one of the most quality eggs across the country, is totally different.

“Many of my members have called me; and we have met with several middlemen on how to solve the problem. Those we have met include middlemen referred to as Yankaji, who are mostly our partners.

“But one of the major problems we face is that some poultry farmers who are not members of the association liaise with some eggs up-takers/purchasers to  reach any agreement about price because they (farmers) want to sell their products even at a loss to at least get half of their money to inject in their turnover.

“These up-takers who go to these poultry owners that  are not members of our association know that should they come through us they won’t easily have their way, no matter what, as the association’s regulations and policy will still be adhered to, and that can still help in one way or another,

“Those who buy from us at 50 per cent loss on our part still end up selling with significant profit. Even if they purchase from us at N1,000, they still sell at N1,900. And they purchase from us on credit and remit money to our members whenever they sell,” he said.

Bagudu added that all the payments were done through transfer and not cash. He, however, expressed optimism that after the elections things would get better.

He called on the Plateau State Government to come to their aid through interventions as other state governments do to their poultry farmers.

He said the government could, for instance, purchase eggs from them and inculcate into the school feeding programme or use it as part of their humanitarian services/palliatives and distribute to the needy.