Yemisi Izuora
As part of effort to provide opportunities for wealth creation for all classes of people in Nigeria, leading poultry farm NutundO Food has introduced an empowerment scheme called natnupreneur farmer.
Group Managing Director of NatnudO Foods, who is also the President of Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, Dr. Ayoola Oduntan, while speaking at the launch of the scheme, said that natnupreneur farming is an empowerment scheme designed for individuals and agricultural SME’s for wealth creation through the poultry value chain.
He added that the scheme offers opportunities for poultry farmers, poultry enthusiasts, poultry cooperative, farm owners, graduates and investors in the country.
According to him, The benefits of the concepts is to provide opportunity to start poultry trade, a platform for farmers to expand their capacity gradually and opportunity to gain experience and expertise from large scale poultry farmers.”
The Managing Director further who was represented by the Group Head, Policy and Strategy, NatnudO Foods, Mr. Toromade Francis, said that the scheme is part of his company activities to promote entrepreneurship in the country.
“What we do is that we gather people and educate them, give them a day old chick because of our involvement in value chain. We give them feed, drug and we buy the product back from them not more than maximum 42 day. Even anybody who wants over a million birds will be given to by our company.
“We have signed MOU with Central Bank of Nigeria recently, for some farmers and some state governments have signed MOU with us too, like Rivers, Osun, Lagos and many are on the other way.
So there is no quantity of birds you want, we cannot give out.
We have fleet of experts that goes from region to region inviting companies and individuals to participate in the scheme.
He noted that maize constitutes 50 percent of poultry feeding and if the country is able to solve 85 percent of poultry feed that all the problem in the area would be solved.
“The interest rate is too high for any agriculture activities to survive in this economy, and if the interest rate is 10 percent how many farmers in the country would be able have access to loan on such rate.
He said agriculture particularly poultry play a large role in creating employment opportunity in the country.
On the rejection of Nigerian agricultural products at international market, he said most of the agricultural products lacked internationally accepted quality standards.
He explained that for Nigerian produced eggs for instance to be accepted at the international market, every egg to be exported must be Grade ‘A’ as the international standards requirement.
He further added that the eggs must be certified by the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, with all production information.
He further lamented government’s policies, infrastructure, illegal importation, high cost of input materials and others as some of the macro factors affecting development of agriculture in the country.
Citing poultry products for example, Oduntan said the prices of maize and soya beans have more than doubled in the last one year.
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