By Pelumi Adele
Rev. Oluleye Gideon Olugbeja, National Vice President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), has pleaded on behalf of the organization for the federal government of Nigeria to lower the interest rate on agricultural loans to farmers so they can maintain production on their farms. He emphasized that the poultry subsector requires additional interventions to lessen the impact of the sector’s rising input costs.
“We want the government to know that L-press lending activities through Development Bank Nigeria have not been of any benefit to farmers. A situation whereby participating states contributed their counterpart fund to the World Bank fund and farmers are being told that the interest rate of the fund is 16% and the commercial banks handling the fund will put all their rates on the fund, which will eventually bring the interest rate to 19.5% for farmers to borrow for livestock production, instead of a single-digit interest rate, calls for question,” Rev. Oluleye noted.
He, however, appealed to the government through the Central Bank of Nigeria and Development Bank of Nigeria that the interest rate of lending the L-press facilities should be reduced to a single-digit interest rate.
The Chieftain of the Poultry Association of Nigeria made this appeal while speaking during the opening ceremony of the 14th edition of the annual Nigeria Poultry Show held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Tuesday.
The 2025 Poultry Show, themed ‘Poultry Sector: A Key to Sustainable Food Security and Regional Trade,’ ranks among the largest poultry shows and exhibitions in Africa, south of the Sahara, excluding South Africa.
In his speech, Rev. Oluleye also clarified that the yearly event always gives all of the poultry subsector’s stakeholders the chance to interact, learn from one another, and address the issues facing the industry and the danger to their investments.
He emphasized the importance of collaboration and innovation in overcoming these challenges, urging participants to take advantage of the knowledge shared at the event. Adding that this year’s show promises to feature a variety of workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities aimed at fostering growth and resilience within the poultry sector.
“The last few years have been extremely difficult, with the economy’s galloping inflation impacting all of our inputs and raising the cost of some of our outputs.” All of the sector’s key stakeholders are finding it difficult to learn as a result of the market instability this has caused, he said.
