The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N665 million for the acquisition of poultry equipment for farmers in Borno, Yobe, Plateau, and Zamfara.

This was disclosed at the FEC meeting recently by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouk.

The ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development presented a memo to council on behalf of National Emergency Management Agency, seeking the approval of the council for the revised estimated cost and augmentation on contracts for the procurement of poultry equipment for Borno, Plateau, Yobe, and Zamfara States that were affected by conflicts in 2019.

Agro producers are still battling shortages of maize and soybeans to meet feed requirements, the minister has said.

During the lockdown, scarce supplies and high prices on the feed market affected thousands of poultry farmers as the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for farmers to go to their farms, coupled with the current insecurity in the northern regions of Nigeria.

This, Mrs. Hajiya Farouk said, has made feed millers to not meet the demand of poultry farms in the north eastern and surrounding states. Nairametrics