Pig farmers in the Ikangba/Agoro axis of Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State have lamented losses estimated at over N5bn following outbreaks of African Swine Fever, calling on the Federal and state governments to provide compensation, soft loans and other forms of assistance to revive their businesses.
The farmers, under the aegis of the Ikangba/Agoro Pig Farmers’ Association, made the appeal on Wednesday during a protest organised in conjunction with the Food and Farmers’ Rights Campaign in Ikangba Town.
The farmers during the protest were armed with placards bearing various messages such as “President Bola Tinubu, Gov Dapo Abiodun, please come to our aid; African swine fever has destroyed our means of livelihood”
“African swine fever virus is not a spirit; government should find a cure to this deadly virus.” “Over N5bn lost to African Swine fever, we are now jobless and depressed. We call on the government to rise to our rescue,” among others.
Speaking on behalf of the farmers, the National Coordinator of Food and Farmers Rights Campaign, John Eko, said more than 2,000 farmers had been affected by the outbreak, which he said had resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of pigs and the closure of over 99 per cent of pig farms in the area.
Eko said the losses extended beyond livestock to farm infrastructure, feed supplies, investments and livelihoods, adding that several farm workers had also lost their jobs.
He said, “For several weeks running, we pig farmers within the Ikangba/Agoro axis in Odogbolu Local Government, numbering over 2,000, have lost tens of thousands of pigs worth over N5bn, and the losses are still counting, to the outbreaks of the rampaging, highly contagious, but non-zoonotic African Swine Fever virus.
“The outbreak has devastated the local pig production industry, leaving farmers struggling to recover from the financial losses”
Eko described the latest outbreak as the third time in a decade that African Swine Fever had devastated investments in the area, accusing the governments at both the state and federal levels of failing to provide adequate support to affected farmers.
He said, “Sadly, both governments have maintained a pin-drop silence to our agonies, sobbing and murmurs, yet it is loud enough to stir the dead in their comfortable reposes in graveyards.”
The campaign coordinator said the farmers could no longer bear the burden of repeated outbreaks without government assistance, insisting that immediate intervention was necessary to prevent the collapse of the industry.
“Neglected and forlorn, we had before now been compelled to bear our losses with stoic perseverance. But our limits of endurance to these preventable and avoidable losses have been exceeded. Moving forward, we can no longer suffer and die in silence,” he said.
Eko called for compensation for affected farmers, alongside agricultural production subsidies, low-interest loans, the provision of quality breeding stock, animal feeds and disease-control materials.
He also appealed to the government to provide relief materials for farmers who could no longer meet their families’ basic needs because of the loss of their livelihoods.
Eko urged the Federal Government to invest in agricultural research and development, particularly efforts to develop vaccines and drugs against African Swine Fever.
He said Nigeria had research institutions and qualified scientists capable of contributing to efforts to combat the disease, citing the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, Plateau State, as one of the institutions that could be involved.
“The fact that this has not happened, particularly in a country like Nigeria, given her huge human and material resource endowments, only shows how our successive governments have not taken agriculture, food security, and the plight of farmers seriously,” he said.
Eko called for the establishment of a high-powered technical committee comprising scientists, farmers and other relevant professionals to explore ways of developing effective vaccines and drugs against the disease.
Also speaking during the protest, Mr Folorunsho Ayodele said that he lost over N18m worth of pigs to the rampaging fever while his neighbor lost over N30m to the outbreak.
Ayodele said that “the outbreak began about two months ago and over 2000 farmers have lost their animals to this cruel disease. I personally lost over N18m; my pen houses are now empty. My own neighbor lost over N30m. These are pigs that weighed over 300kg and a kilogram is sold for N2,500 and above.
“Many of us are on loan; some are even in the hospital because of the shock of these terrible losses. The experience is better imagined than experienced. We beg Gov Abiodun and President Tinubu to please come to our aid. We need all the support to go back to our business and continue to contribute our quota to our country’s development”.
Mrs Adeola Oyeleye also called for swift government support to cushion the effects of the quantum losses that the farmers had suffered.
Mrs Oyeleye said that “I personally lost over N10m worth of investment and I know of those who lost over N100m to this swine fever outbreak, so we are really overwhelmed by these terrible losses, and we just beg the government to come to our aid.
“The support could be in the form of adequate compensation, soft loans, grants, and all the assistance that can help us go back to business. Our pens, as we speak, are all empty; the trauma is immense because we have lost our pigs to this disease. Luckily, it is not a zoonotic disease; it is not a disease that can be transferred to human beings. We, however, beg both the state and federal government to please arise and help us. The government should also intensify efforts to get a vaccine against this ruthless fever”.