ABEOKUTA – Mr Olalekan Odunsi, the Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Ogun branch, has said that the inability to access loan facilities has discouraged small-scale poultry farmers involved in bird production.
Odunsi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abeokuta that small-scale farmers had not been able to contribute much to bird production because of the handicap.
He said most small-scale farmers could not access loans from banks because the banks claimed that their farming standards did not meet the standards required by the banks
“Sincerely, poultry business needs a huge sum of money to stand; but lack of funds and access to loans has been affecting the production capacity of most poultry farmers.
“In our country today, most of the birds consumed are either from big farms or imported.
“The country has the capacity to produce enough birds and eggs for both internal and external consumption, but the facilities to do so are not available,” Odunsi said.
The chairman appealed to the government to give loans to small-scale farmers in livestock farming, especially the poultry sector and not just concentrating on crop farmers alone.
He called on governments at all levels to assist poultry farmers with single digit interest loans, to enable them to enhance poultry farming in the country. (NAN)
