The farmers said the outbreak had caused serious damage to their businesses and affected their means of livelihood. They called for compensation, soft loans and other forms of support to help them recover their losses and restart their businesses.
The farmers, under the Ikangba/Agoro Pig Farmers’ Association, made the appeal on Wednesday during a protest held in Ikangba Town in collaboration with the Food and Farmers’ Rights Campaign.
During the protest, the farmers carried placards with messages calling on President Bola Tinubu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun to intervene and support those affected by the disease.
One of the placards read, “President Bola Tinubu, Gov Dapo Abiodun, please come to our aid; African swine fever has destroyed our means of livelihood”
Another message read, “African swine fever virus is not a spirit; government should find a cure to this deadly virus.”
The farmers also expressed concern about the financial and emotional effects of the outbreak, with another placard stating, “Over N5bn lost to African Swine fever, we are now jobless and depressed. We call on the government to rise to our rescue,” among other messages.
The farmers are seeking urgent government intervention to address their losses and help them rebuild their businesses.
African Swine Fever is a highly contagious viral disease that affects domestic and wild pigs. It can cause severe illness and death among infected animals, leading to significant losses for pig farmers.
The disease does not infect humans, but outbreaks can disrupt pig production, affect farmers’ incomes and threaten the livelihoods of people who depend on the industry.
The farmers’ appeal highlights the financial challenges facing affected pig producers and the need for measures to support their recovery.
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 the past decade that African Swine Fever had destroyed investments in the area. He accused the state and federal governments of failing to provide sufficient assistance to farmers affected by the disease.
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.”
The campaign coordinator said the farmers could no longer cope with the effects of repeated outbreaks without government support. He stressed that urgent intervention was needed to prevent the industry from collapsing.
“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 called on the Federal Government to increase investment in agricultural research and development, particularly in efforts to develop vaccines and drugs to tackle African Swine Fever.
He noted that Nigeria had research institutions and qualified scientists who could contribute to efforts to combat the disease. He specifically mentioned 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 her 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 proposed the establishment of a high-powered technical committee made up of scientists, farmers and other relevant professionals to explore ways of developing effective vaccines and drugs against the disease.
Speaking during the protest, another farmer, Mr Folorunsho Ayodele, said he had lost pigs worth over N18m to the outbreak, while his neighbour suffered losses exceeding N30m.
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 neighbor 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 Gov Abiodun and President 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”.
Mrs Adeola Oyeleye also called for swift government support to cushion the effects of the quantum losses that the farmers had suffered.
Mrs Oyeleye said that “I personally lost over N10m worth of investment and I know of those who lost over N100m to this swine fever outbreak, so we are really overwhelmed by these terrible losses, and 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 immense because we have lost our pigs to this disease. Luckily, it is not a zoonotic disease; 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”.