Why Poultry farms are folding up - Offa monarch

Date: 2017-01-12

The Olofa of Offa, in Kwara State, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi Okikiola, Esuwoye II, is a poultry farmer, in this interview, he speaks on the challenges presently facing the sector.

You are a king, and also a poultry farmer, what led you into it?

From year 2002, before I became Olofa, I woke up one day and I said I cannot continue as a rice distributor and I was number one in Lagos in terms of rice, sugar distribution throughout till 2010 but I felt the stress will be too much for me after 50 years. One day, I was talking to one of my friends, an importer of rice, who is an American that I needed to diversify my business and he advised me to go into poultry farming and promised to join hands with me. He did his calculation and showed me the profit from it but it never worked like that.

I had a land in Ikorodu which I showed him and he said I should start working on the land that he was going to US to bring money and equipment but never showed up but I started work on it and I have spent about N300 million on the land. I cannot stop it and by 2004 the birds had started laying. I called some local doctors and one foreign doctor to work on the farm. Today, it is the biggest poultry in Lagos State.

My plan of leaving the market when I turned 50 was changed by God. With the poultry in place, I left the market when I was 47years old. God has really guided me because if I hadn't left rice business, only God knows what would have happened now that the market has fallen.

What is your assessment various agric policies?

Whatever agric policy that can help us has been shouted on all this while and nothing has been dyone. About 70 percent of poultry farms in Nigeria today have folded up because maize now is about N130,000 per ton and anything above N50,000 per ton of maize is running at loss. As maize price goes up, prices of other ingredients also increased. If the government can assist us on the price of maize, a lot of poultry farmers will go back to business. Even in my farm, I have staff strength of 1800 and I am producing at 50 percent, I am planning to lay off some staff. It is the Governor of Kwara State that is encouraging me not to lay off my staff; that things will get better.

What specific policy would you recommend for government that will help poultry farming in Nigeria?

Government is just saying we should go back to the farm without any farm implement. Before now, in every village you will see tractors, bulldozers, fertilisers, insecticides and other things but now you cannot see those things even at ministries of agric. How do we go back to farm without those implements that we will use to cultivate what will be enough for our local consumption and export. Nothing is being given to farmers and to get loan from banks, one has to present his or her dead grandfather to get the money.

What do you think government can do to get the country out of the current situation?

All the things I have said earlier do not apply to poultry farmers. What they will benefit from is to get our farmers to go and grow and make them available to poultry farmers. It is one thing to tell us to go back to the farm but I hope they help us with implements that we will go and work with in the farm. Even the rice farming, only rich people can delve into it, the poor cannot dare it. There is no assistance from government.

Source

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Mahmud Ajeigbe     Ado Ibrahim     Obayomi Azeez     EndSARS     Ahmed Bayero     Tunde Mukaila Mustapha     Biliaminu Aliu     SUBEB     Demola Banu     Dauda Adeniran Adeshola     Council Of The Wise     Ahmed Shuaib Buranga     Mufutau Olatinwo     Trade Lenda SME Fair     Saliu Tunde Bello     KWATMA     Bio Ibrahim     Olohungbebe     Yusuf Ali     Admiralty Villa     Paul Olawoore     Egbewole     Salmon Babatunde Salmon     Galland Marcias     Code Of Conduct Tribunal     Saka Aleshinloye     Raliat AbdulRazaq     HAMFAT Clinic And Maternity     Okiki     Olayinka Olaogun     Suleiman Abubakar     Sulaiman Gado     Sheriff Olanrewaju     TIIDELab     Kwarareports     Rapheal Ashaolu     Ekiti     KW-GIS     Stephen Fasakin     Suleiman Yahya Alapansapa     Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu     Ilorin Anchor Men And Women     Kpotum Mohammed Baba     Isiaka Rafiu Mope     Bashirat Bola Bello     Bayo Ojo     Saadu Gbogbo Iwe     Saidu Kawu     Transition Implementation Committee     Mohammed Jimoh Faworaja     Zara Umar     Wahab Femi Agbaje     Sam Onile     Muhammed Abdullahi     AbdulRahman Saad     Sheikh Ridhwanullah     CUTI     Kazeem Adekanye     Kwara United     Ope Saraki     Alagbado     Adeniyi Ojo     Saadu Alanamu     Benin Republic     ER-KANG     Ella Supreme Tissue Paper     Agboola Abdulraheem     Al-Adaby     Nigeria Foundation For Artificial Intelligence     GGDSS Pakata     Sobi Specialist Hospital     John Olobayo     Akeem Olatunji     Adesoye     Omoniyi     Ajase-Ipo     Monkey Pox    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Overland     Okedare     Hamidu Olowo     Ilorin Amusement Park     Baakini     Mopelola Abdulmaliq-Bashir     CBT     Afolabi-Oshatimehin     Jide Ashonibare     Ilorin Emirate Staff Association     Kumbi Titiloye     Idris Garuba     HAMFAT Clinic And Maternity     Abdulrazaq Sanni     Iyabo Adewuyi     Abdulmumini AbdulRazaq     Awwal Jawondo     Wahab Issa     Kwara TV     Aremu Odolaye     Just Law Forum     Dele Momodu     Seed Technologies     Mohammed Lawal     Funmilayo Isiaka Oniwa     John Olajide Adedipe     Association Of Kwara State Online Media Practitioners     Abdulkadir Remi Hawawu     Dan Masanin     Musibau Akanji     Kazeem Gbolagade     Risikat Lawal     Okoolowo     Inside Kwara     Iliasu     Sheikh Alimi     Gafaru Olayiwola Olorisade     Yoonus Lawal     UITH     Kaiama     Ahmed Bolaji Nagode     Isiaka Alikinla     Dauda Adesola     Oasis Muslim Care Foundation     Saadatu Modibbo-Kawu     NITDA     Lawal Olohungbebe     Mohammed Halidu     Yahaya Abdulkareem Babaita     Lai Gobir     Share-Tsaragi     Emir Of Lafiagi     Abubakar Ndakene     Baboko Primary School     Ibrahim Bio     Ridwan Agboola     Raymond Olaitan     CELF     Omotosho     Ajibola Saliu Ajia     Patience Jonathan     NULGE     Ilorin Descendants Progressive Union     Maryam A. Garuba     Senior Special Assistant On Student Affairs     Public Holiday     Quarry Royal Valley     Government House     Kassim Babamale     Tayo Awodiji     Kwara State Governor     3MTT     Nurudeen Mohammed     Kwara Apc     Abatemi Usman     Egbewole     Federal College Of Education (Special), Afon