Get Guardian on GooglePig farmers in the Ikangba/Agoro axis of Ogun state have appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun for urgent financial assistance and compensation following losses estimated at more than N5bn to an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).
The farmers, operating across Ikangba, Agoro and neighbouring communities in the Odogbolu local government area, said the outbreak had killed tens of thousands of pigs, forced hundreds of farms to close and destroyed investments in livestock, feed, infrastructure and other farming assets.
In a letter addressed to Abiodun through the state commissioner for agriculture and food security, Bolu Owotomo, the Ikangba/Agoro Pig Farmers’ Association said more than 2,000 farmers had been affected by the outbreak, which it claimed had persisted for four months.
The association, through its chairman, Folorunso Ayodele, and secretary, Olorunfemi Quadri, said the losses had pushed many smallholder farmers and their families into severe economic hardship, with pig farming representing their primary source of income.
“This current ongoing outbreak is by far the most devastating for us as pig farmers, leading to an unprecedented loss of over N5bn in investments,” the association said.
The duo added that the outbreak was the third time in a decade that African swine fever had ravaged the farming community, leaving farmers to absorb the financial consequences without adequate government support.
The farmers requested financial grants, low-interest loans, subsidised feeds and feed materials, high-quality starter weaners, fumigants, disinfectants and other materials to help them restart their businesses and prevent further outbreaks.
They also called for increased government investment in agricultural research and development to support efforts to develop effective vaccines and treatments for the disease.
Although there is currently no established cure for African swine fever, the association said sustained investment in research could help produce viable vaccines and other interventions to control the virus.
The farmers expressed disappointment over what they described as the lack of concrete assistance from both the state and federal governments, despite the outbreak attracting public attention.
They acknowledged that Owotomo had issued a statement indicating that the federal government had been alerted to the situation, but said no meaningful intervention had followed.
The association also questioned the exclusion of farmers in the Ikangba/Agoro axis from a federal government disease-control initiative launched at the Oke-Aro Pig Farm Estate.
The initiative, led by the minister of livestock development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, involved the distribution of protective and disease-control materials to farmers under the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES).
The farmers said they were dismayed that the intervention had not been extended to their communities, despite what they described as official acknowledgement of the outbreak in their area by the minister’s special assistant, Eustace Iyayi.
They said the absence of support had heightened frustration among affected farmers, many of whom had lost their livestock, businesses and employees’ livelihoods.
Beyond the direct economic impact on farmers, the association warned that the outbreak could worsen the country’s protein supply challenges by reducing the availability of pork, which it described as a relatively affordable source of animal protein.
They further said restoring pig production in the affected communities would not only revive household incomes and create employment but also strengthen the wider livestock value chain and improve pork supply to the market.
The association urged Abiodun to work with the federal government to provide immediate assistance, arguing that intervention was necessary to prevent the collapse of the local pig-farming industry.
The letter was also copied to the director of veterinary services, the director of livestock development and the permanent secretary of the state ministry of agriculture, as well as political representatives from Ogun East and Odogbolu local government area.
The farmers said government assistance would help affected households rebuild their businesses, re-employ displaced farm workers and restore economic activity in the communities.
They appealed to the governor to act swiftly, describing their losses as beyond what individual farmers could reasonably withstand.
“As the father of all Ogun state residents, including us, the pig farmers, you will not hand us stones while we are asking and yearning for bread,” the association said.
