By Bisola Adeyemo
About 50,000 metric tonnes of Maize has been released into the Nigerian market by The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), through its anchor borrowers’ programme to lessen the consequence of undersupply of commodity in the poultry sector and also poultry owners who buy feed excessive costs.
Although the quantity released is far below the 300,000 metric tonnes that the apex bank pledged in January, however, the release of 50,000 metric tonnes is a huge relief to major poultry feed producers and poultry producers who are groaning under the high costs of the commodity.
The February release helped bridge the shortfall in production and augment local production of the commodity.
Major beneficiaries of the February release include flour mills Crown – Olam, Grand Cereals, Animal Care, Amobyn and Hybrid Feeds. Others include Zartech, Wacot, Sayeed Farms, Pandagri Novum, and Premium Farms as well as the South West, South-South, North West, and North Central chapters of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).
According to inside business’s report, The benefiting companies represent the major players in the poultry value chain in the country.
Prior to the release, the rapid and dramatic rise in the costs of maize and feed supplement owing to the ban resulting from the government policy had overwhelmed poultry feed producers.
Gbenga Ogundele, a feed producer noted that ” Covid-19 is not solely the reason for the increase, but mainly is the government policy. The ban on maize has led to a reduction in production. Our buying capacity has also shrunk. We have a lesser amount to work with and we are doing less with what we have. A trunk of maize that cost N2 million now goes for N5 million, which means a 40 percent increment “.
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Bolaji Ogundele, a feed distributor corroborated him and stated that locally grown maize is not sufficient to meet the needs of man and livestock.
“Due to the policy of the government, homegrown maize is now scarce and extremely expensive.
“Crop farmers import maize for cultivation and feed millers for feed production. Due to the unavailability of maize, there is a reduction in the availability of feed.”
” What we are producing in Nigeria is not even enough, let alone value addition. We are always leveraging on other countries to get more maize, so now since there is a ban, it has led to scarcity and a high cost. Although, the government has given license to four companies to import maize, yet the quota is restricted, so supply is still limited. “
Calling on the government, Ogundele said the farmers are advocating for inputs at a regulated price, “The government should provide us with inputs at a regulated rate. If we can have access to maize, soya bean and all the feed inputs at regulated prices, it will give us a base rate. With this, each farmer will be able to do proper planning for his establishment. It will also help all the persons along the value chain and equally assist the final consumer.”
The apex bank noted that since the release, the Maize market has recorded a reduction in price from N200,000.00 per metric tonnes to about N180,000.00 per metric tonnes. It is still anticipated that the current will further reduce.
“The current shortfall in the quantity of maize available in the market, that CBN is working on mitigating, is attributed to activities of banditry, drought in some parts of the country last year, activities of hoarders and middlemen as well as insecurity around the major maize producing belt of Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and part of Kano states.
As part of the Bank’s financing framework, the CBN facilitates the funding of maize farmers and processors through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) Commodity Association, Private/Prime Anchors, State Governments, Maize Aggregation Scheme (MAS), and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS).
