Pig farmers in Plateau State have raised the alarm over the devastating outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), saying hundreds of pigs have died while many pig farms have been forced to shut down, with losses running into millions of naira.
The farmers have consequently appealed to Governor Caleb Mutfwang to intervene urgently to prevent the collapse of the state’s pig industry, which they described as a major contributor to food security, employment and the state’s economy.
The appeal was made by the Chief Executive Officer of Topnotch Pig Farms Services and Veterinary Consultant, Saction Hub Limited, Mr Joseph Chudu Yonkpa, in an open letter addressed to the governor on Saturday.
Speaking on the impact of the outbreak, Yonkpa said although the exact number of pigs lost was yet to be determined, the casualties had already run into the thousands.
“The number at the moment I cannot quantify, but they are in thousands. You can rightly say thousands of pigs have died,” he said.
He disclosed that hundreds of pig farms across the state had also shut down as a result of the disease.
“At the moment, hundreds of pig farms have closed. Both small and large farms have been affected. The big farms in Plateau State have already shut down because of the outbreak of African Swine Fever,” he added.
Describing the situation as catastrophic, Yonkpa said Plateau remained one of Nigeria’s largest pork-producing states, supplying pork to neighbouring Kaduna and Nasarawa states, as well as markets across southern Nigeria.
According to him, the pig industry provides employment for thousands of farmers, farm workers, transporters, processors and marketers, while contributing significantly to the state’s internally generated revenue.
He noted that the outbreak of African Swine Fever, a highly contagious viral disease with no known cure or vaccine, had severely disrupted the industry.
He said, “Thousands of pigs worth billions of naira have been lost. The price of pork has crashed to less than N2,000 per kilogramme of carcass due to panic sales and loss of consumer confidence.
Farmers are unable to restock and are struggling to survive in this harsh economy.”
Appealing for urgent government intervention, Yonkpa urged Governor Mutfwang to establish an Emergency Response Committee through the Ministry of Livestock Development, Veterinary Services and Fisheries.
He said the committee should assess the extent of the damage across the state, provide immediate technical support, biosecurity materials and palliatives to affected farmers, and develop a recovery and restocking plan.
“If this crisis is not urgently addressed, it risks crippling a key sector of the state economy and worsening food insecurity and unemployment, especially since Plateau State is one of the largest consumers of pork in Nigeria,” he stressed.
Yonkpa, however, expressed confidence in the governor’s commitment to agriculture and the welfare of Plateau citizens, saying pig farmers were hopeful that the state government would respond swiftly to save the industry from total collapse.
