‘Nigerians May Face High Prices of Meat, Dairy Products’ – Nigerians may pay high prices for meat and milk, going by increasing costs of production, experts have said.
Managing Director, Chanan Elo’a Integrated and dairy expert, Mr Udeme Etuk said with the ongoing recession, stubbornly high prices of cows and inputs will prompt food inflation.
He said a deep recession will lead to lower use of dairy products, given volatile market conditions.
He said milk production and productivity is going to be threatened by high costs of inputs and feed.
He said quality of animals was critical in determining its milk productivity, adding that the industry has been cross breeding with imported ones.
According to him, there is a risk to the quantity and quality of feed, which could lead to lower milk production growth and higher costs of production for farmers.
To maintain quality of milk, he explained that farmers have been forced to import foreign breeds priced in dollars.
Etuk warned that recession is going to have a significant but negative impact on the dairy industry.
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According to him, milk quality concerns go beyond the farm level and require assurance of safe milk at all stages.
He noted that it will cost so much for dairy farmers to be able acquire facilities for milk quality, including infrastructure and human resources, that enable constant monitoring for quality.
The Team Leader, International and Rural Development at the Livelihoods Support and Development Centre, Prof Kola Adebayo said the recession will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation. He said the economy is in for a rough ride in the face of recession.
The prolonged impact, according to him, putting upward pressure on dairy commodity prices.
He said the country was tackling a weak economy, and high unemployment, and that devaluation and inflation were creating a drag on the overall growth.
The negative impact of the crisis, he continued was being felt throughout the economy and will affect profitability for the agric industry.