Adewole Adebayo Moses has steered
Dapsone Global Venture for six years, feeding Nigerians and contributing to the country’s economic growth. Previously a banker before he moved to Poultry farming, Ade, discusses his experience in the market and why eggs may disappear on some families’ menu lists. Excerpts.
We have noticed a consistent increase in the price of eggs which is attributed to the hike in the price of feeds following the scarcity of some components of which maize is one.
Yes, poultry farmers are currently facing difficulty in sustaining our business because of the increase in the price of feeds. Although maize is just one of the components it’s about 50 per cent of the feeds. Other components of the feeds of fowls or chicken are a balanced ratio that consists of carbohydrates, proteins, mineral sources and roughages. All of these make complete feed components
The carbohydrate components include Maize, Sorghum, Millet while the Protein Sources are Fish meal, Soya beans meal, Groundnut cake, Blood meal etc.
The mineral sources are Oyster Shell, Bone meal etc, the roughages are wheat Offal, Rice bran, brewers grains etc
How available are they and how much do they cost?
Recently, the materials are relatively scarce in supply and the prices have increased more than 100 per cent in the past years. Today, most of these materials are being sought from neighbouring counties because the quantities being produced locally cannot meet up with the demands.
For example, last year, a metric ton of maize was sold at N180,000 but the price has gone up to N300,000 and more depending on the location. That is just one of the components. When we add the price of other materials that are sourced outside of Nigeria which prices have also witnessed a tremendous increase in addition to the rate of Naira that has crashed, you can then have a feel of what we are talking about
How many times do chicks eat in a day and how far can a bag of feeds go?
The feeds should be served to the birds twice daily (in the morning and the afternoon) A bag of feed is 25 kg and the standard is to 200 birds. Therefore, the number of birds will determine the number of bags of feeds per day
What is the productive span of a chicken that is laying and how old can they be before laying eggs?
Averagely and practically, commercial layers’ productive span is usually 18 months and usually start laying between 18 to 20 weeks old.
Apart from feeds what are the other factors that their cost are contributory to the price of eggs?
First is medications like Anti CRD vaccines, multivitamins, dewormers, N.D.V Lasota, antibiotics etc which prices have gone up. All of these are highly required to keep the birds healthy and enhances their performance.
Second, the running cost includes fuelling of generator set, transportation wages and salaries for workers.
What are the other factors that are outside the control of the poultry owners but which are contributory to the price of eggs?
One is an environmental factor or ecological condition that usually affects the production rate. Sometimes it causes a reduction in production and such cases, there may be a slight increase in price in other to meet up with the cost expended on production.
Second is an outbreak of diseases like bird flu that we witnessed recently in some parts of Nigeria brought about a very high mortality rate of birds which led to the closure of many poultry farms. This however constitutes a relative drop in the supply of eggs and thence a price increase. The third is the lack of access to funding and the high-interest rate on loans. The poultry business is highly capital intensive and as a result, requires a lot of money to run. Many poultry farmers do not have access to funding and the few ones that accessed it got it at a very high-interest rate, this invariably affects the price of eggs in other to meet up with the production cost. The land ownership system in some communities is usually not favourable. The cost of acquiring land is usually high. Another is the lack of access to veterinary services and the unstable government policies such as the high taxation rate that is stifling.
Given the current situation in the market and the economy as a whole, can the current price of a crate of eggs be held for the rest of the year?
Considering the inflation rate, the current price of a crate of eggs can’t be sustained. The cost of feeds has been the major player in determining the price of eggs in the market. As at this time last year, we were buying a bag of Layers Marsh at N3,800 but it has gone up to N6,500 now. The increment in the price of the feeds is usually on a weekly/monthly basis.
The government has evolved several agricultural policies. Do we have any positive impact on Poultry farmers?
Before this time, the poultry sector has been greatly neglected by the government and as such, no tangible favourable policies were implemented. In recent times, however, Nigeria Government has taken a good measure of approach towards the agricultural sector to sustain an increase in agricultural products such as the establishment of NIRSAL through which farmers could access funding.
However, as lofty as the idea is, many stakeholders in the poultry business are unable to access the funding.
l also see a need to revive the central marketing board for agricultural produce in Nigeria to take charge of trade and pricing policies.
Which of the policies are detrimental?
The recent ban of forex for importation of maize. Maize is a vital input of chicken feed as it constitutes more than 60 per cent of chicken feed. This policy is grossly responsible for the scarcity of maize.
What is the size of your poultry and would you say you need government support?
My poultry is two thousand birds capacity but due to financial challenges l could only operate on one thousand laying birds. l could operate on a higher scale if I by improving my production capacity if I get financial support both from the government and other financial institutions.
In the season of eggs, how many crates do you sell, and how do you make up during the off-season like school holidays?
There is an available market for my produce and as such My eggs don’t stay more than two days in the store. Moreover,l have outlets where l distribute my eggs.
How long have you been in operation and how did you pool funds to commence business?
I have been in the business for six years now. Before now, l had two staff but due to the increase in production cost, I can only maintain one staff for now. I began and run my poultry with personal savings and plough back profits. Banks are not supportive of the poultry business in Nigeria especially commercial banks except microfinance banks who’s rates are stifling.
The poultry business is very hazardous, do you have any insurance product in place as a shock absorber in time of crisis?
No insurance policy in place because there has not been much awareness in the area of insurance for poultry businesses in Nigeria. Moreover, the law stipulates a need for an insurance policy for the farmers with two thousand birds and above.
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