SURVEY VIEWS AVIAN FLU'S NIGERIA ECONOMIC IMPACT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002509 SIPDIS SIPDIS USDA FAS WASHDC FOR FAA/RANDY HAGER USDA FOR APHIS/JOHN SHAW USDA FOR WAYNE MOLSTAD/OSEC USAID/W FOR AFR/WA ANGELA LOZANO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAGR EAID NI AVIANFLU SUBJECT: SURVEY VIEWS AVIAN FLU'S NIGERIA ECONOMIC IMPACT REF: ABUJA 2238 ABUJA 00002509 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Summary. A team from the USG's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) visited six Nigerian states in August to assess the avian influenza socioeconomic impact on Nigeria's poultry sector. Nigeria has about 36% of West Africa's poultry and the sub-region's most modern poultry sector. The team found that poultry was Nigeria's most important source of meat. The FEWS NET report expressed serious concern over Nigerians' losses of backyard flocks, which represent household protein and purchasing power derived from "egg money" affecting both income and nutrition for many Nigerian households. End summary. ¶2. Members of the U.S. Government's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) made a presentation on August 25 in Abuja to officials from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and USAID Abuja on the socioeconomic impact of avian influenza (AI) in Niger and Nigeria. The FEWS NET team will issue a full report. FEWS NET invited officials from Nigeria's Ministries of Agriculture and Health, but none attended. ¶3. The five-member FEWS NET field team, accompanied by a UN Food for Peace anthropologist, carried out detailed interviews between August 2-18 in the states of Sokoto, Niger, Plateau, Kaduna, and Kano, as well as in the Federal Capital Territory. The team conducted interviews only in ONE urban area and its environs in each state. While the findings are not comprehensive and cover only the country's middle belt and north, they provide valuable information about Nigeria's poultry sector, much of which is informal and poorly understood. Poultry's Importance in West Africa -------------- ¶4. Poultry farming represents a significant part of the agricultural and livestock economy of West Africa. Livestock production, especially poultry, is an important source of income and food security for more than 40% of the region's population. West Africa has more than 387 million poultry birds, which constitute about 24% of the meat consumed in the region. Poultry provides 8% of the animal protein eaten in the region -- which represents 16% of total protein consumed. Nigeria has about 36% of West Africa's poultry and the most modern poultry sector in the sub-region. AI's economic impact in Nigeria is not clear -------------- ¶5. Statistics in Nigeria are fragmentary. The FEWS NET researchers concluded, after extrapolating from 1990 Ministry of Agriculture information, that poultry was Nigeria's most important source of meat and was 36% of meat production in the country. Their report expressed serious concern over Nigeria's loss of backyard flocks, that for many households represent protein and household purchasing power derived from "egg money." The report did not estimate the percentage of Nigerian households that lost flocks because of AI. ¶6. The team found that many families had not planted grain at the start of the growing season because they could not sell their poultry for cash to buy seeds. There likely will be repercussions later in the season from this decrease in planting. The smallest farmers, whose backyard flock usually is five to 10 birds, normally do not depend on money from their chickens to use to buy seeds and fertilizer. Nigeria's grain harvest reason runs from August to October of each year. For corn, production is concentrated in the heart of the north, where there is only ONE season. In Nigeria's southern and middle-belt states, there are normally two grain harvesting seasons: July to August and October to November. ¶7. Because corn is the main product used in poultry feed, the FEWS NET report concluded that AI at its peak in the areas surveyed caused corn's wholesale price for a 100-kg sack (220 pounds, although in actuality, between 80 to 100 kg, or 176 to 220 pounds) to fall from 6,000 naira in 2005 to 3,000 naira in 2006. This decreased demand for corn likely will result in a smaller corn crop in 2006. (Comment: The agricultural attache does not agree with the FEWS NET report's conclusion about AI's having depressed corn prices and says low corn prices instead are likely due to a large ABUJA 00002509 002.2 OF 002 corn crop. End comment.) ¶8. In some states, such as Kano, poultry is Nigerians' leading source of meat. Sokoto State's rural areas have a mainly traditional poultry production system and poultry numbers are limited by poultry diseases. The researchers found that villagers in Sokoto's village of Roumdji Kadji owned on the average five to 20 birds per household, with 85% of households raising poultry. In the area of Jos in Plateau State, whose conditions are more conducive to poultry, nearly every household in the village of Tahos owned poultry, with an average of 30 birds per household. ¶9. From the harvest period to January, poultry sales were low in northern rural areas, in part because varied sources of income were available. From January to May, poultry sales increased, as farmers took greater care against poultry diseases and sold poultry to buy fertilizer. During the peak of AI infections in the areas surveyed, the poultry trade was seriously affected and ceased in some poultry markets. The amount of poultry sold decreased markedly. The level of poultry consumption decreased, mainly among urban and peri-urban customers. The number of persons employed by the poultry sector decreased. Most owners lost a large chunk of their working capital, and some remain hesitant to make new investments in poultry. There is little available working capital for poultry sellers and others associated with the sector, and there is a limited investment capacity in the poultry sector. Trends in poultry prices -------------- ¶10. Before the upsurge of AI, prices per bird ranged from 400 to 700 naira ($3 to $5.50) in the areas surveyed. As AI spread, prices dropped to 150 to 350 naira per bird. This situation lasted for two to 12 weeks, depending on the market. The researchers found the situation was returning to normal, and that prices regaining their former level while poultry availability increased, although poultry consumption in the areas surveyed was not back at 100% of its former level. During the "crisis period," the price of poultry was lower than other meat. The prices of red meat and fish were largely stable, even though there was increased demand for beef, lamb, and goat. The demand for fish was greater than the supply during the peak of AI's extent, and fish sellers' profits increased somewhat. Overall, poor households will have more limited access to poultry, with negative nutritional consequences. Comment -------------- ¶11. Nigeria's poultry sector remains heavily informal and unmeasured outside the large commercial poultry farms in the southwest. While the FEWS NET report's findings were not definitive, they made clear the important role of poultry in Nigeria, including for sellers, consumers, and suppliers. Greater losses in the poultry sector will have a commensurate impact on Nigerian household members' income and nutrition.