Constraints to Increasing Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: A Review

imports of frozen poultry meat, year-round local production was risky because peak demand
was associated mainly with the four (Christian and Muslim) festive periods. Outside these
periods, glut was the likely consequence of production. Unstable government policies have
tended to limit medium-term and especially long-term investments in the industry.
Since the imposition of the import ban in 2002, year-round production has been relatively
secured for the poultry industry. The only trace of glut subsequently occurs between late
October and the end of November. The experience of poultry farms shows that previous gluts
could not be erased even by product price reduction because production cost was already high.
The ban has drastically reduced this problem since, in the absence of imported poultry items, a
slight price reduction easily erases any glut experienced.
In summary, the constraints to expanded broiler production in Nigeria include high cost of
inputs, which tends to make poultry products, especially meat, more costly at the retail end than
their imported counterparts; poor-quality feeds, since most small- to medium-scale producers
cannot afford to feed poultry at recommended levels or appropriate feed mix ratios; inadequate
infrastructure such as electricity, roads, and storage; and poor access to needed capital and
funds.
Avian Influenza
Authorities in Nigeria announced the outbreak of deadly H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) in a
Kaduna state commercial firm. While the outbreak was announced February 8, 2006, the initial
outbreak was believed to date back to about January 10, 2006. Evidence of the spread of the
virus was detected in neighboring states like Kano, Plateau, Katsina, Bauchi, and Abuja (WHO
2006a).
There was fear in the official circles that the virus outbreak could cause human health
epidemics, especially because of the close human contact with poultry species in the rural areas
where more than 70 percent of the birds are raised as a backyard business. Nigeria is believed
to raise an estimated 140 million assorted poultry animals (WHO 2006b). Also, evidence of
human fatality has been reported in Asia (UK Clinical Virology Network 2004).
Fortunately, no human fatalities were reported for the period of the virus outbreak in Nigeria. But
collateral losses, in the form of culled, burned, and/or buried birds, transitory avoidance of
poultry products by consumers, anda temporary ban imposed by other countries on the import
of Nigeria’s poultry products, were significant (CIDRAP 2006).
Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
This review has identified various categories of constraints to increasing agricultural productivity
in Nigeria. These constraints include those arising from agricultural policies that have been
formulated over time. Some constraints, such as poor and untimely release of funds and high
offshore costs of equipment, limit the implementation of the v presidential initiatives Others,
such as aging and inefficient processing equipment and high on-farm costs of agrochemicals,
limit the effective functioning of the value chains (production, processing, and marketing) for
key agricultural commodities.
Constraints to commercializing agroprocessing R&D results and implementing the Strategic
Grains Reserve Programme (SGRP) include poor funding and a lack of effective linkages
between researchers and the private sector. Constraints that limit livestock productivity include
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