In the last two years, Nigeria used $3.49bn to import poultry eggs, fish, milk, dairy and fish products, according to data from the International Trade Centre.
Fish products worth $2.14bn were imported into the nation, while diary products valued at $1.35bn were brought into the country within the period under review.
According to the international trade organisation, the fish products included: live fish, frozen fish, fish fillets and other fish meat, whether or not minced, fresh, chilled or frozen; fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish; flours, meals, and pellets of fish.
They also included crustaceans, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine, even smoked; flours, meals, and pellets of crustaceans; molluscs, even smoked, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; flours, meals, and pellets of molluscs.
Flours, meals and pellets of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and other aquatic invertebrates were also imported.
Dairy products imported included: milk and cream; buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yogurt, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream; whey; products consisting of natural milk constituents, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter; butter, incl. dehydrated butter and ghee, and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads.
Imports also included cheese and curd; birds’ eggs, in shell, fresh, preserved or cooked; birds’ eggs, not in shell, and egg yolks, fresh, dried, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, moulded, frozen, or otherwise preserved; natural honey; Turtles’ eggs, birds’ nests and other edible products of animal origin.
This is despite an acknowledgement by stakeholders that the continued importation of fish and diary products is depleting the nation’s foreign reserves and ability of local farmers to sell their products.
