More Kano poultry farmers consider shutting down over feed, maize prices

Poultry farmers in Kano State have raised concern over ‘worsening’ poultry feed prices in the state.

The farmers said that from early this year they had experienced over 30 per cent increase in the prices of poultry feed, which they claimed had a negative effect on the conduct of the business and is threatening the entire business along its value chain.

Recent checks in the state revealed that poultry feed is now selling between N8,000 and N10,500 per 25kg bag, depending on brand.

According to the Kano State chapter chairman of the Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria (PAN), Alhaji Umar Usman Kibiya, the increase in poultry feed prices is attributed to the current government’s free trade foreign exchange policy on dollar, which he said had negative effect of maize importation into the country.

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He further explained that the competition in maize demand between confectionaries, local consumption by citizens and the animal feed sector had created a huge demand on maize; hence the scarcity and the hike in price.

“Actually, the importation cost of maize has increased and the competition between different stakeholders has also increased, so in such situation there is bound to be scarcity and hike in price. Most poultry farmers are trying very hard to remain in business, but the situation is gradually getting out of hand as many farmers are considering change of business,” he said.

Another farmer, Malam Sunusi Magaji, said the hike in feed was making poultry business unattractive as cost of production is going high, although the price of chicks has dropped.

“For instance, the price of a day-old chick has gone down drastically, from N500 to N120 or N150, depending on the producing firm, but the increase in their feed is so alarming that most of us are considering closing down,” he said.

Another poultry farmer, Usman Usaini, said a lot of his colleagues were switching to local production due to the hike in feed price. He said local poultry production was less money-consuming because feeding the birds did not require expensive feed.

It was gathered that maize has become highly sort after, especially at the Dawanau International Grain Market as prices moved from N23,000 in the beginning of the year to over N33,000 currently.  It was revealed that there has been a mad rush for the commodity, to the extent that people buying in bulk have to queue to get it.

A merchant in the market, Alhaji Mu’azu Gambo, said that if not for the intervention of some companies that recently opened their stores to supply maize to buyers, the commodity would have been very scarce and beyond people’s reach.

“To be honest, the competition in the demand of the commodity has been very high recently. Those who need it for consumption are on the rise. Those demanding maize for their factories, such as producers of poultry feed and others are also on the high level; hence demand became overwhelming.

“It is a fortunate development that two companies, one from Zaria in Kaduna State and a Kano-based company have decided to open their stores for the sale of maize to the public,  if not,  the story would have been different,” he said.

For many years, maize has been a major ingredient in the production of poultry and other animal feed.  It is also one of the main sources of food for human consumption, especially in the northern part of Nigeria. Similarly, recent innovations include maize into other food processing methods. Moreover, there have been several governmental interventions on maize, ranging from importation to other majors that will ensure its availability in the country despite huge local production.