Economic meltdown: Poultry stakeholders plan survival strategies

By Akin Adewakun, Lagos

Dr. Mansur Muhtar, Minister
of Finance

FACED with challenges occasioned by the prevailing global economic meltdown, players in the poultry business have come up with strategies aimed at surviving the hardship imposed by the economic crunch.

The stakeholders, which include veterinary doctors, farmers, distributors and feed millers, canvassed ways of surviving the hard time at a two-day prize redemption ceremony, organised by Boar Feeds, where different prizes and special awards were given to the company’s customers, deserving distributors and farmers for their loyalty to the company over the years.

In his speech, the Chief Executive Officer of Boar Feeds Limited, Mr Yinka Adebogun, while acknowledging the untoward effects the meltdown was having on the nation’s poultry industry, disclosed that the sales promotion organised by the company was a way of cushioning the effects of the crisis on its customers.

“It is a price we had to pay at this end to also mae our customers stay in business,” he stated.

He revealed that another strategy had been devised by the company in conjunction with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to reduce hardship faced by distributors and farmers in accessing credit facilities through a Credit and Bank Guarantee Scheme (CBGS).

The scheme, he stated, makes it mandatory for the company to pay the initial refundable opening bank deposit of between N50,000 and N100,000 for the interested customers after which they will be able to access either overdraft or loan, as well as serving as a guarantor to them.

The personal finance consultant, FCMB, Idimu Branch, Mrs Abisoye Adebogun, while advising prospective beneficiaries to be honest and faithful to the terms and letters of the agreement of credit facilities to be offered by the bank through the company, also expressed her optimism that the company, as their guarantor, would fulfill its own obligation to the bank.

Dr. Timothy Akinleye, national sales marketing manager of TOSAM Integrated Services Limited, who spoke on Poultry Health Clinic and Nutritional Management, opined that making and using feeds appropriately would not only guarantee 80 per cent success but also give assurance of better return on investment which he said Boar Feeds represents.