Industrialisation to boost incomes for 14 million poultry industry workers

More industrialisation is needed in the poultry industry in order to improve the lot of the 14 million people directly and indirectly employed in the sector with a per head income of N44, 000 annually.

Based on the last estimate of the national office of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), the current worth of the poultry industry in Nigeria is about $3 billion (N663 billion with a dollar-to-naira rate of N221- Monday Bureau De Change exchange rate). The PAN estimate shows that about 14 million people are directly and indirectly employed in the sub-sector which entails feed milling and other indirect activities like warehousing and haulage. Per capita income for this sector based on this estimate is about N47,000 annually.

Though about 90 percent of the players in this industry have other sources of income apart from rearing birds for meat and/or eggs, this income which now amounts to about N4, 000 monthly is very low.

The poultry industry is however growing, with egg and poultry meat production rising. Between 2011 and 2014, number of eggs increased by about 1 billion. Number of day-old chicks have increased to 42 billion annually. (But we must note that not all these chickens get to maturity or live beyond a day old). There are however still a lot of challenges experienced by producers in the country such as high cost of input and infrastructure challenges.

Many industry watchers and producers of eggs have raised concerns about egg glut. For one, issues of egg glut still persist. Sunday Adeyooye of Sun Ados Farms says, “There is dwindling purchasing power, another is the issue of terrorism which led to a decline in egg demand from the north because most of the eggs produced in the Southwest are consumed in the north.”

Elizabeth Oladipupo, a veteran poultry farmer said a few years ago that production of powdered eggs is a laudable objective. According to industry watchers, this industrialisation of eggs- domestic production of powdered eggs would permanently solve the egg glut crisis that sometimes occur and even create greater demand for eggs. But investors continue to shy away from this investment due to infrastructural and other challenges that make cost of doing business in Nigeria very high.

Already, dealers buy off large quantities of eggs from farmers and supply to companies for the manufacturing of products such as beverages and production of confectioneries. 

Currently powdered eggs are not manufactured in Nigeria even though large quantities of raw eggs that can provide the raw materials are produced in large quantities. As more and more companies turn to powdered eggs, these would eventually bounce off on farmers. Some farmers and agribusiness investors have indicated interest in manufacturing powdered eggs but are uncertain of the terrain, the viability of the project considering the infrastructural challenges. Some farmers even maintain that such a large scale project is the responsibility of governments to undertake.

According to USA Emergency supply, powdered or dehydrated eggs are added with the dry ingredients when baking and act exactly like the “real thing” would act in the recipe. Unlike raw eggs, they do not perish so easily and can last for five to 10 years if stored in the right environment. As a result, they are normally cheaper that raw eggs. The USA agency says powdered eggs are made in a spray dryer much in the same way that powdered milk is made. The finished product is a free flowing powder that reconstitutes into a product similar to fresh whipped eggs.

OLUYINKA ALAWODE

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