The Plateau State Government is mopping up excess eggs to ameliorate the challenges posed by glut to poultry farmers.
Farmers in the egg business have been facing low patronage as the eggs pile up, created by glut, which makes farmers lose their investments.
Few weeks ago, the state purchased eggs from farmers for distribution to schools, hospitals, orphanages and correctional centres, which brought the intervention to the tune of N70 million since 2023.
Speaking recently in Jos, the deputy governor of the state, Josephine Piyo, who represented Governor Caleb Mutfwang, described the initiative as a strategic effort to enhance citizens’ wellbeing and food security.
She emphasized that the distribution went beyond charity, symbolising societal care and a push for a healthier future.
The Commissioner for Livestock Development, Dr Sunday Akpa, represented by a permanent secretary, Steven Daniel, revealed that three distribution centres had been set up, and that the ministry, alongside the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), is also producing egg powder to reduce post-harvest losses.
Poultry farmers told our correspondent that though such mop up by the government had tremendously assisted them and raised their hope, more things and initiatives are needed to revitalise the sector.
The chairperson of the association, Mrs Shinkur Angela Jima, said the intervention of the state government had been the best in the poultry sector in the state.
She said that during the glut, farmers were selling their eggs below the production cost because they had to dispose their surplus eggs in their possession so that it would not get spoilt.
The chairperson urged the government to sustain the tempo as poultry is a critical sector, which has created employment opportunities for many people across the state.
According to her, the problem that hit the poultry industry made many farmers to quit and only about 20 per cent remained, but since the intervention by the government, more farmers have started returning to operation.
Another poultry farmer, Solomon John, said the intervention was great, adding that they need government policy and regulation to protect the poultry industry and the market.
John said if the government could bring some regulations and policies to protect the market and the PAN is in charge of the market, it would go a long way in helping them.
He lamented that after the mop up by the government, marketers waited for the exercise to be over and thereafter crashed the price of eggs for their own gain and quick turnover but to the detriment of poultry farmers, who are also forced to crash their prices below production cost.
