The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has requested bailout funding, subsidies, lending facilities, and other financial assistance for its members from the federal government.

The appeal was made at a press conference on Thursday in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.

While addressing journalists, PAN Chairman in the South West, Reverend Gideon Oluleye, stated that different policies of the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had harmed members of the organization.

Oluleye, who was joined by members of the group, noted that measures such as the devaluation of the naira and the increase in interest rates have had a negative impact on the business.

He stated that the country’s present security difficulties have hampered productivity because the bulk of members are unable to access their fields owing to insecurity.

Oluleye requested that the federal government provide the organization with bailout monies, subsidies, and other financial assistance.

He encouraged the federal government to reintroduce the school feeding program in order to relieve farmers of part of their eggs and chicken meat.

Oluleye asked the federal government to intervene considerably more aggressively in subsidizing major farm inputs, particularly maize and soya.

He added that doing so will help to mitigate the detrimental impact of the government’s naira devaluation strategy on farmers.

Oluleye said, “In order to save the poultry subsector of the economy, generating about 6% of the GDP from total collapse, the Federal and State Governments, the Central Bank of Nigeria and all other agencies of government concerned, must rise up and intervene in this subsector of the economy. The intervention should come in the following areas;

“Mopping up of about 15 – 20 million crates of eggs and chicken unsold in the economy right now to ameliorate the losses of the farmers. These products should be used in feeding the people in IDP camps and all our correctional centres all over the country. Some could also be used in government hospitals where meals are served as eggs helps in quick recovery and in building up the immunity of sick patients.

“We also want the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency to resuscitate the school feeding programme, with eggs and chicken meat forming the major component of the programme. This will go a long way in absolving some of the eggs and chicken meat from the farmers.

“We are also pleading with the Federal, States and the Central Bank of Nigeria to intervene now in subsidizing major imputes particularly maize and soya much more than they have been doing before. This will also help in ameliorating the negative impact of the naira redesign policy of the government on the farmers.

“A lot of farmers are running on loan and as a result of this crisis, they could not meet their loan obligation any more. We want the CBN and the Federal Government to help in defraying part of the loan and in some cases outright cancellation of the loan. This will enable farmers to recover and save the sector from collapsing.

“As an emergency measure, let the federal government constitute a committee that will begin the process of mopping up all unsold eggs and chicken meat due to naira redesign policies as these eggs are already going bad. A situation where a single farmer has a hundred thousand crates of eggs unsold in the farm now, the value of which is over two hundred million. Mopping up these eggs and chicken meat now will be a good measure in preventing the sector from imminent collapse”.