Some poultry farmers in Abuja have expressed worry over various challenges they are facing in their poultry business.

The farmers, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday, said that the hike in the cost of feeds had affected their business negatively.

Mrs. Deborah Balogun, a dealer in poultry materials in Wuse 2, said that her greatest challenge in the business now was sales.

Balogun said she ordered one articulated vehicle of feeds and it took more than a month before she finished selling them, compared to previous year she sold off the same quantity in two weeks.

She said that in 2021 she used to sell a day-old chicken at the cost of N280 per one but now selling same for N420.

Balogun added that many customers used to patronise her business before but the numbers of her customers had seriously reduced.

“Before, I used to have between 100 and 300 customers in a month but now I don’t have up to 50 customers in a month,” she said.

Similarly, Mr. Moses Otokpa, another poultry farmer in Kubwa, said that the quantity of feeds and chickens he was selling had drastically reduced due to the high price of poultry materials.

“I used to buy 100 bags of feeds and 200 day-old chickens but presently I cannot buy these quantities again.

“He added that a bag of chicken feed is now sold at N9,800, but as at last year was sold for N7,000 per bag,” he said.

“We are calling on the Federal Government to help us poultry farmers to subsidise the price of feeds and chickens for us not to go out of business.

“Government can also make available soft loans to enable us to do our poultry business.

“Also government knows the importance of our business in terms of the masses having good standard of living, poultry is one of the essential proteins they need to maintain their standard of living,” he said.

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Mrs. Bemi Oduyiga, who patronised poultry materials said that before, with the sum of N10,000 she could buy three grown broilers but now she could not afford even a broiler with N10,000 due to high price.

She added that many families could not afford chicken anymore due to the high cost of their price.

“The price of chicken now is very high and many families are suffering because they cannot afford chicken meat anymore.

“We are calling on the government to come to our aid by ensuring that all the factors poultry farmers need to do their business are subsidised,” she said.

The Star