NIGERIA – Heifer International, an international development organization has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Edo State government in Nigeria and the poultry company Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Limited (AFSH) for the installation of a poultry processing plant.
According to Stephen Idehenre, the State’s agriculture minister, the new unit will have a processing capacity of 10,000 birds per day and is scheduled to start operating by December 15.
Idehenre said, “The essence of the MOU is to create a market for our poultry farmers. We have identified one of the problems of farmers which is the lack of access to the market.
“We have now brought in a poultry birds off-taker which is Amo farms to offtake and process about 10,000 poultry birds per day. Most of those abandoned poultry farms will be revived because there is now a ready market.
“If we must grow the agribusiness, we must begin to find a solution to the off-takers challenge that we have in all the agricultural value chains,” he highlighted.
Mr Rufus Idris, the Country Director, Heifer Nigeria, echoing Idehenre’s sentiments noted that the initiative was designed to help smallholder poultry farmers earn a sustainable living income.
He highlighted that other than increasing access to premium markets, the initiative will also avail finance and new technology for smallholder poultry farmers.
“The project will improve productivity and sustainable livelihoods income for 500,000 smallholder farmers by 2030. It will support market system actors to improve capacity competitiveness, and resilience and bridge the demand and supply gaps.
“In this tripartite market system development partnership, the state government will provide the enabling business development environment. Through its Edo Industrial Park and ensure that Amo Farm Sieberer Limited has sustainable access to electricity, water, access roads, and other amenities,” said Mr Idirs.
Nigeria currently produces only 300,000 tonnes of chicken meat per year, less than 30% of the estimated consumption of 1.5 million tonnes per year.
Faced with the growing demand for poultry products, the authorities are increasingly encouraging private investment in the sector.
Recently, Cormart Nigeria Ltd, one of the leading chemical and food raw materials companies in Nigeria and a member of TGI Group, has forged a strategic partnership with Big Dutchman for the production of sandwich panels.
Big Dutchman is one of the world’s leading providers of innovative equipment for modern egg, poultry and pig production.
The partnership seeks to locally manufacture the sandwich panels used in large-scale poultry operations, that are mostly imported, impacting on production costs, schedules, and business growth plans of poultry businesses.
Furthermore, the project will save the Nigerian economy significant Forex reserves and create over 50 jobs in production and sales.
This partnership allows Big Dutchman to provide the technical specifications to produce top-quality panels, while Cormart manufactures the panels at its facility in Ogun State.
The state-of-the-art factory is currently under construction, with production expected to begin in January 2023.
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