BANGLES
With NANCY TUAMMEN
THE economy of any nation grows faster when it exports more than it imports. In the same vein, it is expected that a country exports the surplus of the goods and services it produces.
While a nation strives to earn foreign exchange through exports, other countries also work hard to penetrate its domestic market with their own products. If the quality and price of imported goods are better than those produced locally, foreign products push local alternatives out of the market, leading to job losses and business closures.
Having a border that allows all imports without imposing tariffs to protect the local economy does more harm than good. It is, therefore, important for government to impose tariff and non-tariff barriers on imports that compete with local products, giving industries the opportunity to grow and meet both domestic and international demand.
Poultry industry: Cartels, market distortions
A case in point is the poultry market. The ban on poultry imports, coupled with poor preparation by government and producers, resulted in higher demand but lower supply. At a food safety awareness event held at Kado Fish Market in Abuja, NAFDAC’s Federal Capital Territory Director, Kenneth Azikiwe, urged traders to prioritise selling certified local products. In response, Ibrahim Mohammed, chairman of the Abuja Fish and Frozen Food Sellers Association, promised compliance but called for equitable enforcement of the rules.
Meanwhile, the poultry industry has faced turbulence. The Federal Competition and Consumer
Protection Commission (FCCPC) is investigating alleged cartel-like practices that have inflated poultry prices. According to the commission, dominant players manipulate supply to keep prices high, restricting consumer access to affordable protein and squeezing smaller producers. Feed costs, a significant driver of production expenses, have worsened the problem, with some manufacturers allegedly raising prices or reducing supply.
In Lagos State, poultry farmers continue to struggle with rising raw material costs. Escalating expenses have driven up egg prices, with the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos chapter, urging government intervention. Clearly, the ban on imported poultry was imposed without preparing the local market to meet demand, creating space for cartels to exploit consumers through scarcity and inflated prices.
Preparing the market before banning imports
The purpose of banning poultry imports is to give local farmers the space to develop capacity, meet domestic demand, and eventually compete globally. While government initiatives such as Lagos State’s N500 million Ounje Eko Farmers’ Subsidy Programme and Central Bank interventions like AGSMEIS and TiPRES are commendable, they remain grossly insufficient.
Questions persist: how many large-scale poultry farms were established before the ban? How many small-scale farmers receive subsidies for chicks, feed or storage facilities? How many have access to affordable transportation, solar-powered cold storage or training in hygiene and quality control?
Without these support systems, small-scale farmers remain uncompetitive. And local products often cost more than imports, leading to smuggling and continued loss of foreign exchange.
This failure to prepare before imposing a ban has been repeated in other sectors, such as wheat and sugar. When wheat imports were restricted, cassava was promoted as an alternative. But many consumers rejected it. Bread became expensive, smuggling increased and poverty deepened.
Phased policies, not abrupt bans
Bans are not inherently bad. They can protect domestic industries, create jobs and encourage investment. However, sudden bans without adequate preparation cause scarcity, high prices and food insecurity, hitting the poorest Nigerians hardest.
A smarter approach would be phased bans. For instance, reducing imports by 30 per cent initially, then gradually tightening restrictions as local production scales up.
When bans are poorly planned, smugglers grow richer, foreign exchange is lost and citizens suffer from hunger and high costs of living. But when they are strategically phased and supported by investment in local industries, infrastructure and training, bans can indeed become a powerful tool for economic growth.