The Federal Government has sworn to force down the prices of poultry products in the country.
To this end, it has ordered the release of 30,000 tonnes of maize from the national strategic reserve in support of animal feeds producers.
The measure is also designed to reduce the pressure that poultry farmers are currently facing in order to have access to feeds for their birds at affordable prices.
President Muhammadu Buhari who acknowledged difficulties faced by poultry farmers took to his Twitter handle Thursday to announce his administration’s resolve to stabilise food prices.
“To ease the current high cost of poultry production, I have approved the release of 30,000 tons of maize from the national reserves, to animal feed producers.
“We are very mindful of the challenge of high food prices, at a time when the economy is already in a slowdown caused by the global coronavirus situation, and are doing everything in our power to bring down the prices of food items across the country”, the President declared.
He said it was time to deal with the unscrupulous activities of middlemen, saying their actions are becoming increasingly inimical to the stabilization of prices in the market.
As he put it, “We are also engaging with food producers associations and groups to tackle the issue of exploitative behaviour by middlemen and other actors, which is one of the factors responsible for the high food prices being experienced.”
“Let me assure Nigerians that this situation of spiraling food prices will be a transient one”, he added.