Scarcity Of Eggs In Lagos Artificial, Say Traders

The Egg Sellers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (ESDAN) say scarcity of eggs in Lagos State is artificial, not natural.

The ESDAN National President, Mrs Olaide Graham, told journalists on Tuesday in Lagos that there was enough supply of eggs from farmers, but low purchasing power by traders and distributors.

She said that there seemed to be an artificial scarcity of eggs, while in the real sense, what existed was egg glut (surplus eggs with little demand).

Graham said: “There is no actual scarcity of eggs in Lagos State but a growing lack of funds by major distributors and traders to purchase the produce.

“The situation is that some of our members have pulled out of egg business. This is largely due to the unavailability of capital to purchase the produce.

“Personally, I used to be the major distributor of eggs at the Alimosho Local Government Area, where we supply eggs to our members, who pay after sales.

“However, we are not financially buoyant enough to do that any longer, hence the unnatural scarcity of the produce in some parts of the state.

“Most eggs traders are financially incapacitated, and can’t do business the way they are used to doing it.

According to the president, since inception of the association in 2018, it has been appealing to the government to assist the sales value chain monetarily.

“They are assisting the farmers to produce the eggs. The farmers are the majority but they are just a part of the value chain.

“When you assist one part to produce and you neglect the other parts of the value chain, in this case, the distributors and traders, you are not doing the sector much good.

“Most eggs traders that used to distribute don’t have enough funds to do so presently. The purchasing power is low.

“Furthermore, when we seek loans to stock the produce, the interest rates altogether stifles the business growth.

“What we have observed as an association is that the farmers want to be the producers as well as the marketers and traders.

“That is why there seems to be an artificial scarcity of eggs while in the real sense what we have is egg glut,” the ESDAN president said.

She said, “The farmers also do not want to sell on credit to the egg traders, in spite of the 25 per cent intervention they got from the state government to mop up the excess produce on their farms.

“So, people are complaining that there are no eggs, but there are eggs available but no purchasing power to buy.

“We really need the government’s intervention in this aspect of the sector’s value chain,” she said.