Unable to sell, Nigerian egg farmers cut prices, lose big

Poultry farmers in Lagos are losing big after Nigeria’s cash crunch left huge of quantities of eggs unsold.

Traders have slashed prices but are still unable to sell. They are asking the government for help in mopping up surpluses.

“Due to the current egg glut, major poultry farms have now dropped their prices and are encountering total loss,” Godwin Egbebe, national publicity secretary of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria as saying.

“At large farm gates, a crate of eggs now goes for as low as N1,700 and N1,800 as against N2,000 or N2,100 that was sold just weeks ago.”

Nigerian businesses have been hard hit by the lack of cash after the central bank in February tried to replace higher bills, triggering a debilitating scarcity. Several small businesses have closed.

The Central Bank of Nigeria said the plan was aimed, amongst others, at checking inflation. The egg glut is an example of the plan backfired instead.

Poultry operators in other states have faced the same problem. On March 16, the Plateau government said it planned to purchase excess eggs from farmers and distribute to orphanages, prisons, schools and hospitals to save their businesses.

– Government help

In Lagos, traders called for a similar intervention.

“With the current volume of eggs, farmers are running at a loss because eggs are disposable perishable items. That is why we are calling on the government to mop up the eggs across our farms and distribute to motherless babies’ homes, hospitals or even the prisons,” Mr Egbebe said.

Mojeed Iyiola, chairman of the group, said the situation was serious and middlemen were taking advantage to cause further losses.

“We have had to drop our prices due to the egg glut, still people do not come for them,” he said. “The marketers and middlemen have used this opportunity to collect eggs on credit and still refuse to pay.

“As an association, we have spoken to the Lagos state Commissioner for Agriculture to mop up the eggs and even give to the less privileged to help the farmers. Some states in the northern part of the country are doing likewise.”

Traders said while they were unable to sell, the price of feeds for their birds have continued to rise.

“The Naira scarcity has negatively impacted the entire poultry sector value chain, causing a huge debt in the poultry sector as there are losses across the value chain,” said Joel Oduware, a farmer.