Poultry, fish farmers’ losses grow as hotels, others remain closed

Poultry and fish farmers are, perhaps, among the most affected by the raging coronavirus pandemic as their fortunes appear to have declined significantly due to the closure of hotels, restaurants, bars and other outlets where their products were much in demand before the outbreak of the disease.

Investigation by our correspondent shows that while large quantities of fish harvested from the fish farms are allowed to rot away for want of buyers, poultry farmers are, on the other hand, having a hard time selling their products.

Most of the farmers, who spoke with our correspondent, blamed the lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states for the dip in their revenues.

They complained that the corresponding ban on social activities and events, such as wedding, house warming and naming ceremonies, even religious activities and other celebrations that require a large gathering of people had seriously affected their business.

Restrictions on inter-state travel and movement, they added, meant they would not enjoy the patronage of customers living in neighbouring states and other parts of the country until the end of the lockdown.

Some of the farmers also claimed they had run out of feeds for their fish and poultry and could not replenish their stock because they had been unable to earn incomes for a while.

A farmer, whose fish farm is situated near Owena Dam in Ondo State, Mr Lasisi Fashanu, told our correspondent that the lockdown cost him more than N15m in revenue.

He said the situation had become so bad that he could neither sell the fish on his farm, which were already mature, nor buy feeds to feed them

“If I don’t feed the fishes soon, they will begin to devour one another. It will be the survival of the fittest,” he added.

Fashanu appealed to the Federal and State governments to come to the aid of fish farmers by assisting them with soft loans, grants or relief packages so as to enable them to purchase feeds.

He stated, “We need all the assistance we can get from the Federal and State governments to sustain our business and then ensure food security.

“We need to start breeding new fingerlings so as to fill the gap that will be created, in terms of food scarcity, by the time the COVID-19 pandemic will have subsided.

“I harvest up to 500 metric tons of fish and I feed them with 64 bags of feeds per day. The cost of feeds keep going up almost every day.”

Another farmer based in Ilora, Oyo State, who owns poultry and fish farms, as well as a ranch, Mr Alaba Ademola, lamented the lack of patronage for his farm products and the high cost of feeds and vaccines.

He said, “The closure of hotels and other recreational spots has seriously affecting my business. Most of my customers, especially those from the eastern parts of the country, have stopped coming because of the restriction on inter-state travel. They are the major buyers of my poultry products.

“The same thing is happening to my fish business. We keep buying feeds and spending money on other items that are quite expensive, yet there is no market for the final products.

“Nowadays, I have no other choice than to sell my crates of eggs below the production cost. To make matters worse, many customers buy on credit and promise to pay up when they finish selling.

“When you ask them for your money several weeks after, they come up with excuses. There is nothing that some of us can do about it because eggs are perishable items. My money is tied down, even as I am selling below production cost.

“The cost of vaccines for the goats and cows is quite expensive. Even then, original vaccines are in very short supply due to the coronavirus pandemic. What we have here are mostly fake vaccines.”

Ademola also said, regretfully, that the lockdown cost him close to N9m in lost revenue.  Calling on the Federal Government to offer farmers assistance by providing soft loans or palliative measures to cushion the effects of the lockdown on their business, he said, “While we are mindful of the need to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the Federal and State governments should assist us to keep our business afloat.”

Speaking with our correspondent, the Chairman of the Lagos State Poultry Farmers Association of Nigeria, Epe chapter, Mrs Folasade Gam-Ikon, noted that the farmers in this sector had never had it so bad.

She said, “I had to throw away 976 crates of eggs in my farm in the last two weeks because there were no buyers. That is about N800,000 gone down the drain.

“The roads are also very bad. For example, the journey from Eleko to the Epe T-junction, which used to last 40 minutes, now takes up to 90 minutes to accomplish.

“Those customers, who usually buy farm products directly from us, no longer come due to the lockdown. Since hotels and restaurants are all under lockdown, it means there are no sales.

“Security agents have worsened the situation. Many of them are still harassing farmers on the roads. They do not recognise us as part of the essential services.

“Some security agents recently seized a colleague’s vehicle on his way to the farm and the vehicle spent four days at the Task force yard in Alausa, Ikeja. I had to go there with the owner of the vehicle before it was released.”

Gam-Ikon urged the Federal and State governments to assist poultry farmers by buying their products right from the farm and distributing them among members of the public as part of their palliative measures.

“This is what is done in advanced countries. Again, since egg is part of the food given to COVID-19 patients in their recovery process, as stated by the officials, government should buy eggs from us. It should get us involved in the school feeding programme by buying eggs from us,” he said.

A director of an Abuja-based fish farm, Zion-A Global Nigeria, Mrs Folake Akinlami, said the farm had lost fingerlings and juveniles worth N5m because there were no buyers for them.

She said, “Our customers were not able to sell the big fish in their ponds. As a result, they were unable to place orders for new intakes of “baby” fish for rearing.  To continue doing business, we really need assistance from government.”

Stressing that government should, as a matter of urgency, come to the aid of farmers, she added, “Accessing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s loan is difficult. The requirements are too cumbersome. More graduates should also be encouraged to participate in agricultural activities via attractive incentives. The Integrated Farmers Association of Nigeria will be making its agenda on graduates inclusion in agriculture available to the public very soon.”

On her part, the President of the Lagos State Catfish and Allied Farmers  Association, Mrs  Nurat Atoba, also lamented that the lockdown came unexpected and at a time many of the farmers had stocked their ponds with fish.

She said, “Now, we are counting our losses. Most farmers have several metric tons of fish in their farms, but there are no buyers. Our major customers are hotels, restaurants, eateries and caterers, among others, but the lockdown has affected their operations, too. So there is no patronage.

“Our members, who are hatchery operators, lost most of their newly hatched fries. Grow-out farmers lost so much during the lockdown because some of them, who are not mobile, could not get to their farms due to the restriction of movement.

“We didn’t have access to appropriate feeds as and when needed.  Financial losses arising from lack of sales are enormous because we had to continue feeding our fish to keep them alive.

“We want government to, first, buy off all our stock or provide assistance in the form of grants to obtain feeds for the stock we still have on our farms. Government should also facilitate loans for farmers under favourable terms and conditions.

“The Growth Enhancement Scheme should be revived, too. We enjoyed this scheme under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. The government bore the cost 50 per cent of farm inputs, such as fertilisers and feeds, among others.”