Tarauni, a popular and biggest chicken market in Kano state has been hit with scarcity of the chicken, BizPoint has observed.
A visit to the market by BizPoint correspondent on Wednesday showed that virtually all the chicken selling outlets were out of stock.
Observation by our reporter had also shown that majority of the tables used for displaying and cutting the chickens were empty.
Other tables were seen with a small amount of fresh chicken on display.
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Speaking to our reporter, Abubakar Isma’il, owner of Abballah Chicken attributed the situation to the hike in price of the chicken feeds.
He said the rise in price of the feeds had forced many poulterers, including those operating large poultry to abandon the business as they count losses, situation that contributed to the scarcity of chicken in the market.
An empty table at Tarauni market
According to Isma’il, the feeds was initially between N3,000 and N3,500 per bag untill it reached N8,500 last year.
However, according to Isma’il, hike in price of corn this season had also caused the increase in price of the feeds up to between N10,600 and N11,500.
“The situation is terrible. As you can see our tables are empty. Have you ever come here and see our tables empty? This show you that scarcity of chickens has hit our market.
“The reason for this is the hike in price of the chicken feeds. Chukun Super, which was sold initially at N3,500, is now N11,500, Ultima is now up to N10,600 per bag.
“Another reason is the hike in price of corn. You know, mostly the chicken feeds is made up of the corn flakes. So, the hike in the price of corn is what caused the rise in price of the feeds.
Some chickens bought by a customer being cut off
“This situation has forced many poulters, including those with large poultry to abandon the business as they count losses. I know a poultryman that has lost about N1.5 million in one unit of poultry. This is the main reason of the scarcity. People have stopped the business.
“‘Let me tell you that this scarcity is everywhere. If there is no chicken in Tarauni market, so you will not find it anywhere because this is the biggest and most popular chicken market in Kano state,” he said.
Isma’il disclosed that sellers had now resorted to supplying chicken from some states in the North such Katsina, Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa and other states.
He lamented that they are not getting the desired profit due to the fact that they have to supply the chicken from other states.
“It has gone to the extent of travelling to other states like Bauchi, Katsina, Jos and Jigawa to supply the chicken. The business is not yielding desired profit now because we have to pay for transport and other logistics to bring the chicken to the end users. We are continuing with the business just because we believe there are others that demand it no matter the situation,” said Isma’il.
