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It has been a sigh of relief for fish farmers across the country as prices of feeds have declined by 24 percent from N750 in October last year to N570 now.
Feeds which constitute 70 percent of total cost of farmers’ production reached an all time high in 2017, owing to the high exchange rate volatility, making fish farmers suffer huge losses across the country with many shutting down operation.
“Towards the end of last year, the cost of 25 kg protein highland began declining from N750 in October, 2017 to N570 now. It a major ingredient in fish feeds,” Bamidele Onibalusi, CEO, Deloni Farms said in phone interview.
“Fish feed is a critical factor in aquaculture. It constitutes 70 percent of production cost for fish farmers. Fish meal is been imported into the country and last year FX issues led to their sharp increases but now the prices are dropping,” Onibalusi said.
Nigeria’s current fish production is put at 1.03 million metric tons, with artisanal production having the highest with 694,867 metric tonnes, followed by aquaculture with 316,727 metric tonnes and industrial with 15,464 metric tonnes, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The country’s total annual fish demand is estimated at 3.4 million metric tons, implying that the country’s has a demand-supply gap of 2.4mmt, according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
This yawning gap is filled with fish imports of $625m (N228 billion), which has continued to erode Nigeria’s chances of diversification.
“The low cost of the protein concentrate is making fish feed cheaper which in return reduces the cost of production which has been a major challenge for us,” Eniola Abiodun, CEO, Eny-keen Multinational Limited told BusinessDay.
Nigeria’s per capita fish consumption is 11kg, which is significantly lower than the global average of 21kg and just less than the estimate of 13.5kg for Côte d’Ivoire.
“This is a big relief for us farmers. A lot of my friends had to shut down last year owing to the high cost of feeds. But now they have all started operation as the prices are reasonable now and sales are picking up,” Dunsi Alade, a fish farmer in Akute, Ogun state said.
According to a recent report by Foundation for Partnership Initiative in Nigeria Delta (PIND), the growth in the aquaculture sector is largely linked to the effectiveness and growth of the fish feed value chain, as feed accounts for up to 70 percent of the cost of fish production.
The reduction in the cost of production also reflects in the growth in fish production as deduced from the NBS data analysed by BusinessDay.
The sector grew 4.05 per cent in the fourth quarter, snapping two straight quarters of contraction in the third (2.84 per cent) and second quarter (2.72 percent), data from NBS states.
Josephine Okojie and Bunmi Bailey
