…as high cost of feeds eats up profit
On the 25th, millions of Christians in Nigeria will join the rest of the world to celebrate Christmas. These festivities put smiles on the faces of poultry farmers as they record huge sales and profit during the period.
Many farmers specifically raise broilers targeting the Christmas and New Year celebrations. This year, however, the farmers are rather not happy as they struggle with low sales because of the high price of chicken influenced by the cost of feed.
Those who spoke with Daily Trust said the little profit they make was not worth the effort and time while others said they were counting losses.
A market survey across some major cities indicated that the prices of chicken have gone up by almost 100 per cent, which also reflected the 100 per cent increase in the prices of feed which farmers had to struggle with since the beginning of this year.
“Nobody was willing to buy my chicken at N5000; buyers wanted to buy at N3,500. Very few bought at N4,500. After the sales, I was devastated considering the expenses I incurred: I only made N5,500 gain. It wasn’t worth the effort at all,” Austin Ben, a smallholder farmer who raises broilers for Christmas every year, told Daily Trust on phone from Akwanga Nasarawa State Wednesday.
In Lagos, our correspondent reports that the price of chicken varied, depending on the farm price, size and the extent of profit the retailer or farmer is expecting.
A Noiler breed in Jakande Estate, Isolo was sold at N6,000 while a broiler was sold for N4,000 to N5,500. Layers were sold at between N2,200 and N2,500.
A poultry farmer in Canoe area of Ajao Estate in Lagos who sold his broilers at N5,000 each in 2019, said this season, he was selling the same stock at N7,000.
Another poultry farmer based in Epe, Folake Aina, said, “No poultry farmer is happy this year because most of them are operating at a loss. This is attributed to the prices of feeds. At the moment, the cost of feeding the birds is more than the cost of selling eggs or even the birds.”
He said many targeted the festive season, but the problem is the capability to restock after the chickens have been sold off.”
At Oregbeni market in Ipoba Hill in Benin, Edo State, our reporter gathered that the prices of chickens have gone up with the big sized ones costing between N7,000 and N9,000.
An average size chicken that hitherto sold for between N3000 and N4000 now costs between N4,000 and N5000. The situation is not different at New Benin, Aduwawa and Ekiosa Satana markets and others across Benin metropolis.
Residents who besieged the markets for the Christmas shopping, however, lamented that with the price increase, many may find it difficult to get chickens.
One of the buyers, Mrs Osademwame Gladys, lamented that she came to the market with the intention of buying two chickens for the Christmas but found that she may only afford one.
She said: “The chicken we used to buy for N5000 is now N7,000. Everything in the market has gone up. But we will still celebrate Christmas.”
In Calabar, the Cross River State capital, chickens are affordable only to a few, our correspondent gathered.
In days close to the Christmas, the prices of big and small chickens are variously sold at N6000, N7000 and N8000 at the popular markets and poultries in Calabar depending on size. The smallest chicken generally goes for N5000.
Madam Ikwo Francis, 58, who runs a poultry farm in Mbukpa area of Calabar South said the “prices of feeds, transport and general inflation have affected everything, especially in this festive season.
With the high cost of chickens, many families who relish eating the birds mostly at Christmas may not be able to afford many of them as they did in past years. This apparently will result in low sales and increase losses many farmers, who months ago stocked their pens targeting the Christmas and New Year would face.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
