Swine fever: Ogun alerts FG as farmers lose N5bn

Pig farmers in the Ikangba/Agoro axis of Odogbolu Local Government Area, Ogun State, have lamented losses estimated at over N5bn after outbreaks of African Swine Fever, calling on the federal and state governments to provide compensation, soft loans, and other forms of assistance to revive their businesses.

The farmers, under the aegis of the Ikangba/Agoro Pig Farmers’ Association, made the appeal on Wednesday during a protest organised in conjunction with the Food and Farmers’ Rights Campaign in Ikangba Town.

The association claimed more than 2,000 farmers had been affected by the outbreak.

But the Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Bolu Owotomo, said that the state has reported the outbreak to the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and is awaiting favourable feedback on the necessary intervention and support.

In a statement, Owotomo described African Swine Fever as a highly contagious disease affecting pigs, with no approved vaccine for routine prevention.

In the meantime, he urged affected farmers and their associations to formally report suspected cases to the relevant veterinary authorities to facilitate sample collection, diagnostic confirmation and coordinated response.

This is just as he charged farmers to enforce strict biosecurity, restrict pig movements, disinfect facilities and equipment, and avoid moving pigs or pork products from suspected infected premises pending veterinary guidance.

He explained, “The Ogun State Government has brought the reported outbreak to the attention of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and is awaiting favourable feedback on the necessary intervention and support.

“Our priority is to contain the outbreak, protect farmers’ investments and prevent further spread across Ogun State. We remain committed to working with the relevant federal authorities to secure the necessary support and safeguard the state’s livestock sector.”

Speaking on behalf of the farmers, the National Coordinator of Food and Farmers Rights Campaign, John Eko, said more than 2,000 farmers had been affected by the outbreak, which, he said, had resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of pigs and the closure of over 99 per cent of pig farms in the area.

Eko said the losses extended beyond livestock to farm infrastructure, feed supplies, investments and livelihoods, adding that several farm workers had also lost their jobs.

He said, “For several weeks running, we pig farmers within the Ikangba/Agoro axis in Odogbolu Local Government, numbering over 2,000, have lost tens of thousands of pigs worth over N5bn, and the losses are still counting, to the outbreaks of the rampaging, highly contagious, but non-zoonotic African Swine Fever virus.

“The outbreak has devastated the local pig production industry, leaving farmers struggling to recover from the financial losses.”

Eko described the latest outbreak as the third time in a decade that African Swine Fever had devastated investments in the area.

He said, “Sadly, both governments have maintained a pin-drop silence to our agonies, sobbing and murmurs, yet it is loud enough to stir the dead in their comfortable reposes in graveyards.”

He said the farmers could no longer bear the burden of repeated outbreaks without government assistance, insisting that immediate intervention was necessary to prevent the collapse of the industry.

“Neglected and forlorn, we had before now been compelled to bear our losses with stoic perseverance. But our limits of endurance to these preventable and avoidable losses have been exceeded. Moving forward, we can no longer suffer and die in silence,” he said.

Eko called for compensation for affected farmers, alongside agricultural production subsidies, low-interest loans, the provision of quality breeding stock, animal feeds and disease-control materials.

He also appealed to the government to provide relief materials for farmers who could no longer meet their families’ basic needs because of the loss of their livelihoods.

Eko urged the Federal Government to invest in agricultural research and development, particularly efforts to develop vaccines and drugs against African Swine Fever.

He said Nigeria had research institutions and qualified scientists capable of contributing to efforts to combat the disease, citing the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, Plateau State, as one of the institutions that could be involved.

The fact that this has not happened, particularly in a country like Nigeria, given its huge human and material resource endowments, only shows how our successive governments have not taken agriculture, food security, and the plight of farmers seriously,” he said.

Eko also called for the establishment of a high-powered technical committee comprising scientists, farmers and other relevant professionals to explore ways of developing effective vaccines and drugs against the disease.

Speaking during the protest, Folorunsho Ayodele said that he lost over N18m worth of pigs to the rampaging fever while his neighbour lost over N30m to the outbreak.

Ayodele said that “The outbreak began about two months ago and over 2000 farmers have lost their animals to this cruel disease. I personally lost over N18m; my pen houses are now empty. My own neighbour lost over N30m. These are pigs that weighed over 300kg, and a kilogram is sold for N2,500 and above.

“Many of us are on loan; some are even in the hospital because of the shock of these terrible losses. The experience is better imagined than experienced.

“We beg Governor Dapo Abiodun and President Bola Tinubu to please come to our aid. We need all the support to go back to our business and continue to contribute our quota to our country’s development.”

On her part, Adeola Oyeleye also called for swift government support to cushion the effects of the quantum losses that the farmers had suffered.

Oyeleye said, “I personally lost over N10m worth of investment, and I know of those who lost over N100m to this swine fever outbreak. We are really overwhelmed by these terrible losses. We just beg the government to come to our aid.

“The support could be in the form of adequate compensation, soft loans, grants and all the assistance that can help us go back to business. Our pens, as we speak, are all empty; the trauma is much because we have lost our pigs to this disease.

“Luckily, it is not a zoonotic disease, that is, it is not a disease that can be transferred to human beings. We, however, beg both the state and federal government to please arise and help us. The government should also intensify efforts to get a vaccine against this ruthless fever.”