Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) FCT Chapter affirmed it has lost about N6 billion due to cash crunch resulting from the CBN cashless policy, subsidy removal on fuel and other factors.
The Secretary PAN FCT, Hon. Musa Hakeem, made this known at the commemoration of the World Egg Day, on Friday in Abuja.
He noted that other factors which contributed to the loss included forex and ban on importation of maize and soybeans.
According to reports, the World Egg Day is celebrated annually on the second Friday of October and the theme for 2023 is “Egg for a healthy future”.
Hakeem listed other challenges bedeviling the industry as high rate of diseases, lack of access to credit facilities, high cost of feed and poor quality chicks.
Similarly, he added that other challenges were cost of veterinary services, lack of technical knowledge, high mortality rate among others.
According to him, the challenge had led to astronomical increase in poultry feed resulting in closure of no fewer than 127 poultry farms in FCT and reduction in the purchasing power of the consumers.
Hakeem, specifically noted that the removal of subsidy on fuel had made movement of poultry and poultry products from one destination to the other very difficult.
While commending the minister of FCT, he, however, called on the administration to come to the aid of farmers to reverse the increase in unemployment rate and security challenge currently bedeviling the country.
Hakeem said the industry was the largest employer of labor, urging the minister to harness the inherent potentials in the industry and protect the investment in order to attract more investors.
He therefore, called on the interventions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reverse the current trend and save the industry from total collapse.
