Registrar of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS), Professor Eustace A. Iyayi, stated this yesterday at a news conference in Abuja.  He said Nigeria consumes about 2 million metric tonnes of poultry meat annually but 70% was imported and smuggled, adding that the closure has created market and jobs for the locally-produced poultry products.

Professor Iyayi noted that if the one million tonnes of chicken prevented from being smuggled into the country was produced in the country, an equivalent of about 100,000 jobs will be created along the broiler and turkey value chains alone. “The institute supports the closure of the border because it has impacted positively on the local poultry industry.  The multiplier effect is seen in the upsurge in the operations along the value chain like supply of inputs, storage facilities, transportation/logistics and value addition. “Given Nigeria’s huge total feed output of 5.3 million metric tonnes in 2016, 80% of which was attributable to the poultry industry with an estimated 180 million population, and annual output in excess of 700,000 metric tonnes of eggs (that is about 450 million crates of eggs) and 300,000 metric tonnes of meat, one can imagine the several hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of direct and indirect jobs created by the industry in its entire value chain in conjunction with its related ancillaries,” the NIAS  registrar said.

The institute said it was currently regulating the feed mill operations and premises, hatchery operations and day-old chicks market; and has so far registered 20 feed mills across the six geo-political zones. NIAS said it will also commence regulatory activities in other livestock farms, especially dairy farms, abattoir and milk processing facilities next year.

SOURCE: DAILY TRUST