Eggs have become a luxury for many Nigerian households, as the price of a crate has surged to ₦6,000, doubling from less than ₦3,000 just over a year ago. The sharp rise in egg prices is driven by soaring input costs, particularly for feed, maize, and soybeans, alongside high petrol prices.
A metric ton of maize now costs ₦710,000, up 48% from ₦480,000 in 2023, while soybeans have nearly doubled, selling at ₦837,000 per metric ton, compared to ₦425,000 the previous year. Poultry feed prices have also jumped, exceeding ₦20,000 per bag, up from ₦9,000 just 12 months ago, according to data from the AFEX Commodity website.
Pius Aminu, chairman of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) FCT Chapter, has warned that the rising cost of eggs is leading to nutritional deficiencies across the country. He called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on egg production to ensure affordability and accessibility, emphasizing that reliance on egg imports would be detrimental to Nigeria’s food security.
The crisis has forced many poultry farms to shut down, causing widespread unemployment. Aminu pointed out that each poultry farm typically employs several workers, and the closure of hundreds of farms has contributed to rising joblessness. He attributed the crisis to factors like foreign exchange fluctuations, insecurity, and high fuel prices.
Sunday Ezeobiora, PAN President, added that insecurity has severely impacted maize production, reducing output by 50%. He estimated that Nigeria produced 7 million metric tons of maize in 2024, far short of the 4 million metric tons needed annually by the poultry industry alone.
The poultry sector’s value has plummeted by 45%, shrinking from ₦10 trillion in 2022 to about ₦5.5 trillion in 2024. Inflation, which stood at 32.15% in August 2024, has further eroded consumers’ purchasing power, leading to declining demand for eggs and other poultry products.
Onallo Akpan, an Abuja-based poultry farmer and director-general of PAN, noted that a combination of factors—including avian influenza, feed shortages, supply chain disruptions, and naira scarcity—has plagued the industry since 2020. He urged the government to address insecurity, which would allow farmers to return to their fields and boost maize production for the entire country.
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