Yuletide: DOC Price Crash Deepens Poultry Crisis, Farmers Seek Urgent Support
By SANI BATURE
NIGERIA’S poultry sector is under renewed strain as broiler day-old chick (DOC) prices fall below ₦450, a steep and sustained decline that has unsettled farmers ahead of the Christmas and New Year sales peak. While seasonal price drops are common, stakeholders say this year’s slump is deeper, driven by weak consumer purchasing power, inflation, and long-standing structural weaknesses in the industry.
Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) President, Sunday Ezeobiora, said hatcheries are bearing heavy losses because their production costs remain fixed even as prices collapse. He attributed the decline partly to the annual production surge ahead of festive demand and the difficulty of forecasting the needs of seasonal farmers.
But many farmers say the crisis goes beyond seasonal patterns. Dayo Gawati, MD of Fdot Farms, blamed the naira’s devaluation and weak regulatory oversight, arguing that multinationals with stronger capital easily displace smaller operators when demand drops.
Stakeholders identified three major drivers of the nationwide slump: large-scale farmers offloading stock after peak production, consumers’ weakened purchasing power, and a supply build-up that has outpaced demand.
Others, like Taiwo Adeoye of Rostal Resources, tied the deeper challenges to the removal of fuel subsidies and FX deregulation, which pushed production costs up and kept hatcheries below optimal capacity for nearly two years. Although macroeconomic conditions are stabilising, DOC supply remains tight, and he warned that it will take at least a year for breeders to recover fully.
Ezeobiora urged the government—especially the Ministry of Livestock Development—to create an Emergency Revolving Intervention Fund, suspend Bank of Agriculture loan repayments for six months, improve security for farmers, and remove the 4% Customs FoB charge on essential inputs.
He warned that despite sufficient birds for the festive season, the industry may witness a significant drop in flock sizes by Q2 2026. Adeoye added that years of cyclical gluts and shortages without intervention continue to weaken the sector, though he welcomed recent efforts to reduce feed prices.
