Ogun State Government says poultry will continue to be given priority in its agricultural agenda for food security, job creation and industrialization through strategic partnership with private sector and international bodies.

          Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Adeola Odedina, stated this in his goodwill message at the ongoing Poultry Show in Abeokuta, with the theme "De-risking the Nigerian Poultry Industry".

          Odedina noted that Ogun State, being the largest producer of broiler and egg in Nigeria has successfully organised broiler project, in which 45 youths were trained and made to rear 1,000 broilers each, as they made average profit of N150,000 in three cycles.

          He added that, the broiler project would be replicated in all the Local Governments in the State, while the successful youths that have been made broiler ambassadors would train others.

          Odedina harped on the need to assist farmers by creating enabling environment for them to be able to produce food and raw materials towards importation substitution, quality control and local value-chain operations, to combat looming food crisis in the country.

          Speaking on the theme, the Country Representative, Nigerian International Livestock Research Institute, Dr. Tunde Amole, acknowledged that there is scarcity of feed for poultry across the world due to Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and usage of maize as raw material for various commodities, including fuel. 

          He called on Nigerians to adjust to the new normal, invent sustainable ways to address global crisis, look inwards to areas of comparative advantage and solve the problem of food crisis both for human and livestock consumption.

          Amole suggested the use of cassava peels as part of components of producing poultry feeds to reduce total dependence on maize, advocating for the need to bridge the gap between academia's research and industrial operations.

          The 3-day event witnessed delegates participating across the country and beyond, Government representatives from neighboring states, with exhibitions of different poultry farm equipment.