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– ‘Give them the best’ –
Like his fellow countryman Du Toit, Peter Crouch, a former tobacco farmer, has also thrown his lot in with poultry.
He opened a hatchery along with his son David in January as part of an egg-to-butcher chicken production operation.
“You have to have the full chain” since Nigeria does not have a developed system, said Crouch, as he took a drag from a Zimbabwean-made Madison cigarette.
But it is Nigeria’s epidemic of smuggled chicken that really ruffles Crouch’s feathers.
The issue illustrates one of the biggest problems facing modern Nigeria, where the informal sector represents a significant chunk of the country’s economy.
Though chicken imports are illegal, the birds keep coming.
Farmers blame Brazil, the world’s number one producer, saying it sells breasts and wings at a premium, then dumps the leftover carcasses at a cut-rate price in Nigeria.
“It’s a sophisticated business. If you were to close importation of illegal chicken, we wouldn’t be able to keep up (with demand),” said Crouch.
As the imported Zimbabwean farmers look forward to retirement, the next generation is already eyeing the future.
Comfort Babajide, 30, is a supervisor who works at the hatchery with her husband.
“Nigeria is looking more into agriculture, beyond petroleum services,” she said.
“Some people still believe in foreign or imported products rather than the local products.
“We can show them it can happen right here in Nigeria, we can give them the best.”
