By Francesca Hangeior
The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter, has blamed increase in the price of eggs on the fluctuating foreign exchange rate and greed by some middlemen.
The Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of PAN, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said, the increase is caused by rise in the price of feed materials due to fluctuations in the Naira exchange rate with the dollar.
Reports have it that the price of eggs, as well as other poultry produce, has continued to increase.
A crate of eggs from the poultry farm gate now sells for about N3400, up from N2700 in January.
Meanwhile, Iyiola said, “The price of feed materials is the cause of the hike in the price of poultry produce, especially egg.
“The price of feed materials increases on a daily basis. You buy a bag of layers’ feed for N10,000 today, the next day it would have risen to N10,500 and so on.
“Dealers in poultry feed materials have blamed the fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate as the reason for the constant increment,” he said.
Iyiola said that major components of feed meal were being imported into Nigeria.
“The component of feed we do not import is maize. Even soybeans is partially imported into the country,” Iyiola added.
He said that farmers preferred to export soybeans to neighbouring countries for higher profits.
“They prefer exporting them to selling locally.
“The greed of middlemen in the sector, for extra profits, contributes to the consistent hike in egg prices.
“From the farm gate, the least we sell a crate of eggs is N3300 to N3400.
“Middlemen hike the price of the produce beyond normal; if you get a crate of eggs at the farm gate price, a profit of N200 is not bad.
“They prefer selling at higher rates, thus exploiting the average Nigerian,” he said.