Kayode Shopekan
NIGERIA has failed to meet up with its 2019 projection of poultry meat production and currently on a production deficit of 529,000 metric tons, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Muhammed Abubakar, stated.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAbubakar made this disclosure during the commissioning of the Cottage Poultry Processing Facility at Dei-Dei Market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
He said the country consumes 1.8 million metric tons of poultry meat annually but produces only 551,000 metric tons, leaving it with a deficit of 529,000 metric tons.
The minister citied Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) 2019 statistics, which says that “Nigeria is the largest annual egg producer with the second largest chicken population in Africa amounting to about 180 million birds. Of these, about 44 per cent are raised in extensive systems, 33 per cent in semi-intensive and 23 per cent in intensive systems.
“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development projection of poultry meat output and demand put the national output at 551,000 MT and demand at 1,080,000 MT thus leaving a supply gap of 529,000 MT,” Abubakar stated.
“Currently, 85 million Nigerians are involved in one form of poultry business or the other making intervention in the poultry sector imperative for job creation and income generation for farmers, processors and marketers in the country”, he said.
The government according to the minister is transforming the livestock industry through establishment of cottage poultry processing facilities to provide a prototype for others to emulate.
“As part of the Federal Government efforts in transforming the livestock industry, the establishment of a cottage poultry processing facility within the Dei-Dei market is to bring best practices closer to the beneficiaries and the market community at large. It is also to provide a prototype for others to emulate,” Abubakar further stated.
