Helping Poultry Farmers Meet Consumers’ Needs

WattAgNet.com, writing about the future of poultry, once wrote that by 2050, we will need to consider that routine work may be replaced by robotics or automation. There will most likely be total supply chain transparency with precision farming, total traceability and on-farm informatics. In the same vein, many years ago, Philip Wilkinson expressed his optimism about the future of poultry farming. He said that poultry, undoubtedly is going to be the leading meat protein to help feed an additional three billion people by 2050. Although his projection may not have meant so much to his listeners, Wilkinson’s assumption was borne out of his understanding of the discovery of animal product as the best bait for adequate protein intake.The place of the poultry industry in providing the consumers’ bugging demand question has become highly indispensible that it is no longer out of place to foresee a high possibility of farm employees with doctorate degrees, hydroponics and mini-power stations becoming more common on poultry operations.
Protein, the second most abundant compound found in human body, plays many critical roles in keeping the body alive and healthy. It is not unlikely that very soon, dietary health foods may be prescribed as part of a disease prevention programme. From the contraction of the muscles which allows for body movement, to the contraction of specialised muscle that controls organ functions such as the heart, digestive movements and elimination of unwanted elements in the body, the place of protein in human body is said to be highly indispensible. Luckily, the free range organic poultry, ducks, turkeys and eggs from healthy chickens are usually handy for this purpose. No doubt, plant foods such as grains, nuts, beans and vegetables can supply the body with proteins, it is but a limited array of amino acids, animal product such as chicken, fish, beef, venison, duck, turkey and pork contain virtually all the essential amino acids needed to keep the body fit and healthy. This makes the poultry business a handy bridge between the need of a people and the availability of a solution to such need.
Wilkinson thus sees the poultry farmer as one in a position to answer the consumers’ bugging question of “what should we eat?” Of course, like the words of the then President of the Barbados Egg and Poultry Producers Association (BEPPA), Wendell Clarke, in 2009, “local poultry producers are actually more than ready and willing to satisfy the needs of the local market”, but the question is, how enabling and encouraging is the economic climate under which the poultry farmer operates?  Can the key drivers deliver  a tasty, safe, attractive product grown in a manner consistent with consumer expectations?  The writer believes  that knowing the gap between the protein need or demand of the society and its existing available supply, will aid in assessing the role of poultry farming towards the health and the wealth of the nation. It is in the realisation of the above fact, that the repositioning of the poultry industry becomes imperative.
In any case, it should be clearly stated that no matter how the poultry farmer struggles with continued industry volatility, even in the face of generally favourable environment, the need for flexibility and market orientation can never be overemphasised.This is to ensure that tasty, safe and enticing products grown in a manner consistent with consumers’ expectations, are delivered. Therefore, if the poultry business be considered a handy bridge between the need of a people and the supply of the products, then the onus lies first on operators in the industry to acquire a new mindset that will favour improvement in productivity. Secondly, the government should create an enabling business climate that will enhance productivity and guarantee quality assurance so as to meet consumers’ expectation.
This is why the call for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy into agriculture and allied sectors, was looked upon as a safe landing for the agriculturist, most importantly, the poultry farmer. Then came the ban on imported poultry meat,   perceived as a strategy orchestrated to encourage the local poultry enterprise towards the local consumers’ satisfaction. This singular initiative, if well harnessed, has what it takes to relegate to history  poultry-related importation which has been a drain on the country’s foreign exchange . Unfortunately, it is yet not very clear what administrative principle the ban policy  was hinged on, without any provision for an absorber for the potential interim gap in the market’s demand and supply. Meanwhile in  2015, the federal givernment initiated  a programme called Anchor  Borrowers Programme (ABP),  which  was actually aimed at creating a linkage between anchor companies involved in processing and smallholder farmers of key agricultural commodities. The anchor companies in this arrangement, do not only provide the farmer with the necessities for production, they also constitute the off takers,  yet the’Nigerian factor’ could not allow such initiative to produce the intended goal.
In  2017,  in line with its policy on self-sufficiency in food production, the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,  inaugurated the National Egg Production (NEGPRO) Scheme which it said was basically to boost poultry farming in the country. According to the National Poultry Desk Officer, the Department of Animal and Husbandry Services of the ministry, Mrs Vivian Ibe,  the scheme was aimed at creating awareness and boosting egg production nationwide. The marketability and capacity utilisation were highly emphasised. By the end of a five-year duration, NEGPRO  would have promoted  economic development, income, livestock and job opportunities in the country, as well as  produce about 500,000 table eggs daily for local consumption, export and processing into egg powder for use in confectionery and pharmaceutical industry.
Every appreciative mind would thumb  up for the federal government  as the national egg production scheme, if faithfully implemented, would have impacted  positively on farmers in addition to boosting  the nation’s economy, food security and job creation for the unemployed youths.. Unfortunately our system is wont to initiating  ideas  without  structured process of implementation. The  scheme, coupled with the “school feeding scheme of the federal government, would have kept the Nigerian poultry farmer on his toes, trying to meet the market demand for  his product, had the government done the needful in equipping him for such a  task.

Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi