By Adam Said Adam
The chairman of the Association of Poultry Sellers, popularly known as “Yan Kaji,” in Charanchi local government area of Katsina State, Aliyu Sani, has decried mounting financial losses suffered by his members to bad roads and insecurity.
Speaking to Agro climate News, in Charanchi, Sani revealed that members of the association lose between N800,000 and N1.5 million worth of birds monthly as a result of prolonged transportation time and harsh transit conditions.
According to him, traders have been forced to abandon the Jibia- Zamfara and Funtua–Birnin Gwari routes due to persistent insecurity, opting instead for a longer and more expensive route through Mokwa and Minna in Niger State when transporting birds to Lagos and other southern states.
“We now spend two to three days on the road before reaching our destinations. The stress on the birds during the long journey often leads to deaths, and that translates into huge financial losses for our members,” he said.
Sani called on the federal government to urgently rehabilitate the affected highways to ease transportation challenges and reduce the suffering of traders who depend on the business for their livelihood.
He disclosed that despite the difficulties, poultry traders in Charanchi currently transport between three and four trailers of birds weekly to various parts of the country.
However, he noted that bad roads, limited access to funds, and the absence of adequate shelters at the new market site allocated to them have continued to hinder their operations.
The chairman also appealed to the Katsina State Government and the Charanchi Local Government Council to intervene by improving infrastructure at the market and providing soft loans to small-scale traders to cushion the impact of rising operational costs.
He stressed that supporting poultry businesses would not only reduce unemployment but also boost food supply and economic activities within and beyond Katsina State.
