The Egg Sellers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (ESDAN) has debunked the claim of a consistent hike in the price of the produce by some poultry farmers.
The President of ESDAN, Mrs Olaide Graham, debunked the allegations in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.
Graham noted that the association’s aim centred on making eggs available to the average Nigerian.
She stressed that the association would not be complicit in the hike of the produce.
“We sell a crate of egg as low as N5,500 presently and no one can buy any other sort of protein and get 30 pieces, whether fish or meat, at N5,500, eggs are still the cheapest form of protein.
“And you know we need protein to survive. Eggs are still available for all and sundry despite the price increment.
“That is why we term this accusation of hiking egg prices by poultry farmers as a blatant lie; we distributors are not to be blamed for the increments in the price of eggs.
“In commemoration of this year’s World Egg Day, we distributed some aids to widows, the elderly and the less privileged in the society.
“We are celebrating the World Egg Day in grand style this year. Our theme for the year is: ‘The Mighty Egg’, reiterating the importance of eggs,” she said.
Graham disclosed attempts by her associate to synergise with the poultry farmers to stabilise the price of eggs, all to no avail.
“We are an organisation that came on board to synergise with the Poultry Association of Nigeria but they refuse to synergise with us.
“The poultry farmers want to be producing and be selling at the same time. In this country, we have freedom of association and we have other people selling eggs that are not in this organisation.
“So, that is why we want to synergise with the farmers and once we agree, we know that we have agreed and then we will be able to know who is disrupting the flow of sales.
“The farmers have refused to see things from our point of view because they have been enjoying the monopoly. Maybe that is why they are accusing us.
“People come to their farm, whether they bring influenza or not and they just enjoy it. The funniest thing is that they will sell the same price to those of us who are major distributors and retailers,” Graham said.
She said that it was impossible to eradicate middlemen if the poultry sector wants to thrive.
“We heard that they want to eradicate middlemen; these middlemen that they want to eradicate, they are the ones pushing the eggs sector forward.
“Farmers will not sell to us without collecting money from us. And when we take it from them, we sell it on credit to the retailers.
“We are the one at the losing end because we have to sell the produce or they get spoiled because they are perishable, so most times we just sell off.
“And we know the market better than the farmers and they say they want to eradicate the middlemen.
“Maybe some of the farmers will stop the poultry business because we are the ones doing major work in the sector,” she said.
NAN reports that the poultry farmers have consistently blamed the hike of the produce on the greed of middlemen in the sector, who exploit the price for more gain.
(NAN)
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