Poultry farmers have said that 30 percent of poultry farms in Nigeria were shut down in the first half of 2024 due to economic hardship.

National Publicity Secretary of Poultry Association of Nigeria, Godwin Egbebe disclosed this in an interview with NAN on Tuesday.

He blamed the challenges facing poultry farmers on exorbitant operational costs, which have also driven up egg prices nationwide.

Egbebe called on the government to intervene to avert a complete collapse in the poultry farming sector.

“About 30 percent of local poultry farmers nationwide have shut down their farms due to the hardship faced in the sector in the first half of the year.

“The government needs to know the severity of the situation poultry farmers is facing in the sector”, he said.

The development come comes as a crate of eggs increased to N4200 in June 2024 from around N2500 and N3200 at the beginning of the year.

Recall that the National Bureau of Statistics said Nigeria’s headline and Food inflation increased to 33.95 percent and 40.66 percent respectively in May 2024.