Antibiotic use in poultry production is limiting the growth of Nigeria’s local egg powder market, with concerns over drug residues reportedly prompting major food companies to rely on imported alternatives.
Chairman of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter, Mojeed Iyiola, said Nigeria needed to adopt specialised production systems for eggs intended for processing to enable local producers to compete effectively in the market.
Iyiola, who spoke in an interview with the pressmen, said some Nigerian poultry farmers rely heavily on antibiotics to treat their birds, unlike producers in Europe, where probiotics are more widely used.
He said major food companies, including Cadbury, were reluctant to source locally produced egg powder because of concerns over antibiotic residues.
“The reason is that in Nigeria, we use some of the major antibiotics to treat some of our birds, but in Europe, they don’t use antibiotics. They have probiotics they are using,” he said.
According to Iyiola, farmers supplying the egg powder industry would need to maintain dedicated flocks whose eggs are produced without antibiotic treatment.
He urged the government to support poultry farmers in adopting the required production standards, saying this would help strengthen the local egg processing industry.
His comments come amid continued weak demand for eggs, which has left poultry farmers facing mounting losses and reportedly forced the disposal of thousands of crates of eggs each week.
Iyiola also called on the Lagos State Government to fast-track the commencement of operations at the proposed egg powder factory in Igbodo, Epe, saying the facility could provide an alternative market for surplus eggs and reduce wastage.
“The best will not be materialized until the factory starts operation. So instead of losing eggs like this, we convert it to egg powder, and that is more storable,” he said.
He said processing fresh eggs into powder would significantly extend their shelf life while creating new market opportunities for poultry farmers.
Iyiola said the low demand for eggs was forcing farmers to reduce prices because of the product’s highly perishable nature, while large quantities were reportedly being discarded weekly.
“Farmers are suffering seriously because thousands of crates of eggs are being buried every week, due to low sales,” he said.
He added that farmers were caught between declining egg prices and rising feed costs, noting that they could not reduce the quantity of feed given to their birds without affecting egg production and worsening their losses.
Meanwhile, President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Kabir Ibrahim, attributed the worsening food crisis to declining consumer purchasing power and rising agricultural input costs.
Ibrahim said while weak consumer demand would ordinarily result in lower food prices, increasing production costs were keeping inflation elevated.
He also attributed farmer apathy, particularly during the implementation of the Federal Government’s zero-tariff importation policy on selected food items between July and December 2024, partly to the rising cost of agricultural inputs.
Ibrahim urged the Federal Government to prioritise agriculture, agribusiness and security as part of efforts to boost domestic food production and address the country’s food supply challenges.
