Insecurity, inflation forcing poultry farmers out of business in Katsina – PAN Chair

Katsina state poultry farmers have lamented how the problems of insecurity and inflation are forcing the closure of their farms in the state.

Chairman of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Katsina State Chapter, Alhaji Musa Rabe Danhassan, who briefed members of the press in Katsina on Wednesday, said the problem was affecting a lot of families and exacerbating the problem of unemployment in the state.

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“I would like to inform the world, particularly our leaders both at national and state levels, about the unfortunate situation which we found ourselves in Katsina state, as far as poultry keeping is concerned, that forced over 40 per cent of our farms to close down.

“Three major factors are responsible. One, the problem of insecurity which has gone beyond the 11 frontline LGAs but affects suburbs of the state capital. Our members are afraid of going to the farms for fear of being kidnapped or killed.

“The other two factors are the economic hardship in the country and the high cost of production due to inflation as prices of all commodities have gone very high,” he said.

Danhassan said apart from the problem of unemployment caused by the closure of the farms, the problem will affect grain farmers negatively as the manure produced by such poultry farms was reducing the effect of the high cost of fertilizer on farmers.

He added that if production is drastically reduced, the supply will equally be reduced and that will amount to high cost of the poultry products.