Lack of electricity hampers women in poultry biz

“One of the challenges we face in this business is lack of power supply. When you slay your broilers/chicken after rearing them for 12 weeks and you don’t have a ready individual or market to buy them, you cannot preserve them for long, because there is no light. Similarly, talking about storage, if these eggs […]

“One of the challenges we face in this business is lack of power supply. When you slay your broilers/chicken after rearing them for 12 weeks and you don’t have a ready individual or market to buy them, you cannot preserve them for long, because there is no light.
Similarly, talking about storage, if these eggs are not properly stored in a cool environment, there shelve life is about six weeks. So, if people don’t buy them from us early, and we do not have a good means of storage and preservation, these eggs will get bad and we are at a loss,” Mrs Favour Uzochukwu , speaking on how inadequate power supply is affecting poultry business.
Mr Lungpet Dung, a graduate who runs a poultry farm in Abuja and Jos explained the place of power supply in the business. He said the birds (chicks, turkeys etc) usually need heat emitting bulbs to keep warm or they will die of flu.
“You can’t do that with firewood or charcoal as they would get burnt. The incubators also need electricity to operate in processing the eggs or even hatching them,”‎ he said.
Another poultry farmer in Kuje, Abuja, Fatima Adamu explains her own plight. “With the hike in fuel, everything has gone up. The price of buying one-day old chick was N120, now its N250 or more. Even the vaccination for these chicks is now more expensive, so maintaining poultry is more challenging.
When there is no light, I have to use the generator for hours. I use about 40 litres of fuel in two days. You can imagine the cost of raising these chickens.
For Mr Peter Oji who runs a poultry farm and produces feeds in Mararaba-Aso of Nasarawa state, the electricity component of his running cost has risen, he said.
“The electricity charges have risen since February 2016. I used to budget‎ N30, 000 for bills as a C1 (Commercial) customer class, now it has risen to over N55,000 without even the regular supply, “ Oji lamented.
Running his processing machines has depended largely on fuel as power is restored more at night for a shorter period. “The frozen food section has suffered much, so we decided to reduce capacity and sell more of live birds,” he added.
Madam Pauline Onu who runs a‎ restaurant in Nyanya, Abuja said if the cost of poultry products increases, it could affect her menu rate as she will have to add some figures to it.
Nigeria has the highest number of poultry farms in Africa. Poultry meat and eggs are the most consumed animal protein; unrestricted by any religion or culture in Nigeria. It is recorded that the poultry industry contributes about 25% of the country’s Agricultural GDP.
On the trend of poor electricity supply, spokesman of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Malam Ahmed Shekarau said the company has been load-shedding (rotating supply) due to poor allocation of power from the national grid.
“Power supply has been on the decline. Yesterday, we received only 143megawatts (mw) following the nationwide drop in generation to 1,400mw. Our baseline load is 450mw, so with that figure, we have to loadshed,” Shekarau told our reporter.
Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, the Senior Special Assistance to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh told Daily Trust that the ministry was working with all the relevant stakeholders to strengthen the poultry subsector, adding that “it is the most organised industry in the Nigerian livestock sector.”
He said the ministry has signed agreement with Tuns Farms- a major poultry producer, to scale up production among Nigerians in order to achieve sustainable growth and self reliance in the poultry industry.
On the issue of vaccination, Dr. Oyeleye said the minister has held Town Hall meeting with researchers at the National Veterinary Research Institute, in Vom, Plateau State with the view to producing affordable vaccines for the poultry industry.
According to him, the ministry during the meeting with the researchers promised to offer the necessary financial support that the institute needs to upscale production.
On the electricity challenges facing the farmers, he said even though it is not the responsibility of the ministry to provide it, it remains national issue that cuts across all ministries.
He also said the ministry was talking with producers of maize, which is a major ingredient in poultry feed so that there would be increase in production in order to reduce the cost of poultry production in the country.
On the way forward, Mrs Uzochukwu  proffers solutions.“ If government is talking about diversifying to agriculture and infrastructure is not in place, then we are not going anywhere. There must be sufficient power supply to be able to store the farm produce as well as poultry, that is when agriculture will thrive, “ Uzochukwu explains.