There has been a consistent increase in the amount of meat consumed in Lagos as figures made available to BusinessDay show a leap from about 4,000 animals slaughtered daily in 2011 to over 8,000 in 2014, an increase of about 100 percent.
Of this figure, 2,000 are cattle while 6,000 comprise of goats and pigs. This is, however, aside imported processed meat mainly by top ranking hotels which further narrows the demand gap.
Yaqub Basorun, the permanent secretary in the state Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, in an interview with BusinessDay, attributed the increased consumption to upsurge in population, which puts demand for foods in the state at above supply.
He also established a nexus in population demographics which favour younger people who consume more meat than the older citizens- 50 years and above. The state population, according to Wikipedia, is currently estimated to be 21 million, making it the most populated city in Africa.
Basorun also linked the development to improved hygienic condition of approved slaughter slabs in Lagos which, he said, continues to bolster the confidence of the consuming public in meat slaughtered within the state. There are about 11 approved slaughter slabs in Lagos, the major being Oko-Oba Abattoir where most of the animals in the state are slaughtered.
“There is consistent effort by the government to see to improved hygienic conditions of all our approved slaughter slabs. We have a committee consisting of officials and stakeholders in meat distribution chain who daily monitor to ensure that standards set by the government regarding meat slaughtering are strictly adhered to. Our records over the last five years show that more people are now consuming meat because they see that measures adopted by the government are working,” he said.
The permanent secretary listed such measures to include the introduction of the refrigerated Eko Meat Van which, according to him, apart from ensuring that what is conveyed is not exposed, helps keep the meat fresh from slaughtering to delivery for consumption. He said over 200 of the refrigerated vans are in operation.
