Nigerian poultry farmers are still counting their losses after the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) naira redesign policy which disrupted commercial and daily activities in the first quarter of 2023.
According to the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), about ₦200 billion was lost during the period as poultry farmers faced a lot of challenges like the destruction of eggs, rotten frozen chickens, and inability to sell to customers due to the non-availability of the new naira notes.
The PAN national president, Sunday Ezeobiora shed more light on the situation while speaking at the second edition of the Poultry Summit with the theme “Poultry Production, A Foundation for Food Security and National Development” held in Abuja recently.
He said, “The country was once bedevilled with the Central Bank of Nigeria currency redesign policy which saw poultry farmers not being able to get the new Naira notes to buy raw materials, and above all farmers were unable to sell their products of egg and chickens. This development led to the destruction of eggs and rotten frozen chickens in excess of ₦200 billion without support and compensation from the government or otherwise.”
The CBN naira redesign policy was first announced in October 2022 when the apex bank announced the introduction of the new ₦200, ₦500 and ₦1,000 banknotes.
The situation was further worsened as commercial banks stopped dispensing the old notes as they claimed the new notes were not sufficient to meet demands. This led to widespread anguish as citizens faced difficulties making purchases and trading during the period.
According to Ezeobiora, apart from the naira redesign policy, some other developments like the subsidy removal, the floating of the naira further worsened the crisis in the sector.
He also outlined several other challenges affecting the sector including multiple taxations, the absence of infrastructure, and post-harvest losses among others.