A fish feed miller and Chief Executive Officer, Prodave Floating Feeds, Mr. Okon Amah, has expressed deep concern over the rising prices of feeds for fish farming, urging swift intervention from the Federal Government to avert a crisis.
In an interview in Lagos on Wednesday, Amah emphasized that there is a need for urgency in the reduction of the cost of feeds for fish farming, as there is a looming crisis in the livestock feed sector.
According to him, there is a necessity for immediate action from the government to address the pressing issue.
“There is a major crisis in the feed industry, the price of livestock and aquaculture feed has continued to soar,” said “The sudden price hike is too sporadic. Every week, the prices change, even major feed companies increase their prices.”
Amah pointed out that less than 50 percent of ingredients used for seed formulation are sourced from outside the country.
“However, the Nigerian farmers who are the major producers of these raw materials cannot meet up demand due to security issues and tough farming terrain.
“When farmers cannot meet up demand, what do we expect feed companies to do to stay afloat in the market,” said Amah.
The aquaculture expert said that farmers had no choice but to source raw materials from outside the country thus, increasing dependence on imported materials.
“The exchange rate has affected the prices of major livestock feed materials prices.
“Aquaculture and poultry farmers now bear the brunt of the price hike and ultimately the end consumers,” he said.
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Amah further said that the government needed to arrest the constant hike in prices of livestock feed, cater for the welfare of local farmers and arrest insecurities on the farm.
He stressed that every part of the country should be secured for the safety of the farmers including, the highways, hinterlands, forests and deserts.
The expert said that farmers needed to be encouraged because they were in charge of the most critical aspect of the economy which was food.
“All levels of government should also provide sensitive interventions to real farmers from their database and not political farmers.
“The interventions should be given via the various associations to farmers with verified farms in operation.
“The intervention should also be substantial and they should be given access to heavy finance,” he said.
Amah said that inputs and mechanisation would help the farmers a great deal, adding that the government needed to focus on increased agriculture production and not consumption.
NAN
