The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has lamented the low demand for chicken and other poultry produce during the Yuletide due to price hikes.
The PAN Lagos Chapter Chairman, Mr Godwin Egbebe, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Egbebe said customers were complaining about the increase in the prices of poultry produce when compared with previous years.
According to him, customers are complaining about the increased price of poultry produce this year in comparison to previous years.
He noted that the purchasing power of the customers have greatly affected demand this year.
“The sales of poultry this Christmas season has been on for some days now, although customers are complaining about the price.
“There is nothing we can do about the price of chicken this Christmas; however, the demand for the produce is still there but not much.
“With the low purchasing power, the demand for chicken is also low.
“The only thing is that most customers that buy in bulk to retail have reduced the quantity they purchase because of the price.
“A customer that would order 10 broilers before can only afford 5 or 6 now.
“What we have is enough to meet the low demand of customers, our production rate has really dropped,” the chairman told NAN.
Egbebe attributed the huge variance in the price of chicken this year to high production cost.
“There are many reasons for this increment this Yuletide but the cost of production is the major reason for the increase.
“The cost of feed and materials for production of feed have gone up since the beginning of the year.
“Insecurity issue and the inability of farmers to access their farms also contributed to this increase in poultry prices this Yuletide.
“There has been huge variance in the price of chicken this year when compared to previous years.
“Old layers sold for about N1, 800 to N2,000 last year now goes sell for N2,800 to N3,000 at wholesale price.
“The price for broilers and cockerels are actually on the high side presently. A broiler or big cockerel previously sold at N4, 500, now goes for N8,000 to N9,000,” Egbebe said.