A review of the animal and aquafeed industries in Nigeria - O.A. Fagbenro and O.T. Adebayo

Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology, PMB 704 Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

1. Introduction

The livestock and poultry production industries are well developed in Nigeria. The livestock resources include cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, pigs, giant rats, cane rats, guinea pigs and rabbits. The poultry resources include indigenous and imported chickens, guinea fowls, turkeys, ducks and geese. The majority of the ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) are supplied with fodder feeds harvested from rangelands and grazing reserves. Cattle production systems are largely pastoral, with the vast majority of cattle being maintained in transhumance and agropastoralist systems. Most of the other livestock resources are reared under the traditional extensive systems. These comprise pastoral, village and urban smallholder farms. Over 90 percent of the country's pig and rabbit production is managed under traditional husbandry systems. Commercial production techniques are only used extensively in the poultry and aquaculture sectors, where they account for 27 percent and 19 percent of production, respectively (Table 1).

Formulated feeds account for the major operating costs in the semi-intensive and intensive pig and poultry (monogastrics) industry. These costs may account for as much as 60 - 80 percent of total production costs. Although the production of conventional livestock has risen steadily over recent years, a major constraint to its expansion is an inadequate feed supply. The poor quality of the feeds currently available to the industry generates high mortalities, stimulates low productivity and as a consequence, produces a low rate of return on investment. An efficient feedmill industry is therefore crucial to the sustainability of viable livestock and poultry production enterprises. Poultry feeds account for over two-thirds of all the manufactured animal feeds (Table 1). There are few commercial sources of fish feeds, and no pet food industries in Nigeria.

Table 1. Animal population and animal feed production in Nigeria (2000)

2. Animal feed production

2.1 Ruminant feeds

Nigerian ruminant production is predominantly undertaken under extensive conditions, thus - as opposed to sown pasture and concentrates - feed is derived from rangeland, crop residues and collected fodder. Nevertheless, crop residues are supplied to those ruminants reared under domestic and semi-intensive systems. The projected availability of crop residues in 2000 is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Availability of crop residues in 2000 (Tewe, 1998)

2.2 Poultry feeds

The poultry feed industry (broiler and layer industry) dominates the animal feed industry, and in 2000, accounted for approximately two-thirds (68.2 percent) of the national feed production. The industry comprises two sectors: the small-scale and the commercial sectors. The commercial sector manufactured nearly 1.7 million tonnes or 65.4 percent of the country's poultry feed - this included feeds offered to chickens, guinea fowls, ducks, geese and turkeys. The ingredient composition used in poultry feeds is derived using least cost formulation techniques (Table 3). The feed types that are used as poultry feeds are presented in Table 4. It should be noted that although these feeds are formulated for poultry, some are commonly and widely used as general livestock and fish feeds.

Table 3. Ingredients used for poultry feed production in Nigeria

2.3 Pig feeds

In comparison with the poultry industry, the pig production industry is much less developed. This is an artefact of cultural and religious taboos that restrict the consumption of pork - most notably by the large Muslim community (>45 percent of the population). In 2000, total pig feed production was 1 084 214 tonnes accounting for 28.5 percent of the national animal feed production. The commercial sector supplied 83.4 percent of the total pig feed production (Table 5). Typical dietary formulations used in the pig feed industry are presented in Table 6, and are calculated according to least cost strategies.

Table 4. Poultry feeds production (tonnes) in 2000

Table 5. Pig feeds production (tonnes) in 2000

Table 6. Ingredients used for pig feed production in Nigeria

2.4 Rabbit and mouse feeds

In 2000, 88 509 tonnes of rabbit pellets and mouse cubes were produced for the fledging rabbit and rodent industries. This feed is also fed to giant land snails under captive rearing conditions in the humid forest zone of southern Nigeria.

3. A review of the raw materials available to the animal feed industry

Traditionally, Nigeria has relied heavily on agricultural production to supply a major proportion of its GDP. Prior to the (crude) oil boom, which began in the early 1970s, the main crops under production were:

- cereals: maize, millet, acha, sorghum, rice, wheat, sorghum (guinea corn);

- grain legumes: cowpeas, soybean, green peas, pigeon pea, lentils, jack/sword beans, lima bean, groundnuts;

- root crops and tubers: cassava, yam, cocoyam, sweet potato, Irish potato;

- oilseeds: sesame seed (beniseed), cottonseed, palm kernel, soybean;

- nuts: coconut, kola nut, cashew nut;

- industrial crops: cotton, tobacco, kenaf, sugar cane, eucalyptus, gmelina;

- tree crops: cocoa, palm products, copra, coffee, tea, rubber.

The feedstuffs used in the animal feed industry are derived from crop residues, mill by-products, food processing wastes and agro-industrial by-products. Nevertheless, as a result of a stagnant or diminishing output of certain traditional crops, the country's feedstuff resources are in decline; thus, in order to meet the needs of the expanding livestock and poultry industries, Nigeria has come to rely heavily on imports. The conventional feedstuffs and their alternatives are presented in Table 7.

Table 7. Conventional and alternative feedstuffs in non-ruminant dietary formulations

3.1 Feedstuff supplies

The demand for feedstuffs in Nigeria is derived predominantly from the livestock and poultry feed industries, and is met either by domestic production and/or imports. Domestic supplies to the feed industry are dependent upon the overall agricultural production, the degree of industrialization and the demand for refined food products. Between 1990 and 2000, the livestock and poultry industries in Nigeria went through a phase of rapid expansion. The expansion placed a severe strain on the supplies of feedstuffs traditionally sourced from Nigeria's grain and oilseed crops. At present, the total supply of all the locally produced feedstuffs does not appear to be sufficient to meet demands - especially with respect to the animal protein supplements that are currently imported. Animal feed mills are currently importing fish and soybean meals.

3.2 Feedstuff availability and prices

Commodity prices are generally subject to market forces and the effects of supply and demand. Nevertheless, a number of locally produced items are subject to protective quotas and tariffs that are raised on their imported equivalents. The dependence on imported concentrates stimulates wide price fluctuations. The prices of feedstuffs also vary with inflation, official regulation of the commodity markets through government import controls and price support through subsidies or direct government purchases. At present, commodity traders handle the majority of the imports. In addition, large quantities of feedstuffs are imported by the feed mills. Retail of feedstuffs is widespread, and it is estimated that close to 50 percent of all feeds produced are mixed/made on the farms. Furthermore, an efficient road system ensures that the general availability of most feedstuffs throughout Nigeria is good.

The food processing industry is potentially an important, yet inexpensive source of raw materials. Canneries, breweries and distilleries produce an assortment of protein-rich waste products that have potential as feeds for livestock, poultry and fish. For example, sludge from the country's palm oil industry is presently discarded. While it represents a major industrial pollutant, it has a high nutrient value that has the potential to be developed into a major raw material for the animal feed industry.

3.3 Feedstuff quality

Feedstuff quality varies depending upon their ingredients, sources and production methods. The quality of imported ingredients tends to be good - they have to meet the demands of a sophisticated feed milling industry. Prices are fairly consistent with product quality, and for some items, pegged to those specifications that are most likely to vary, e.g. the moisture levels for grains or crude protein levels for fishmeals. The larger feed mills maintain laboratories that check on raw material quality and monitor the feed manufacturing process. The involvement of the larger feed mills in commodity trading also helps to maintain the quality of feedstuffs.

3.4 Types and classes of feedstuffs

3.4.1 Cereal grains and by-products

While considerable quantities of maize are cultivated for human consumption, the wet milling of maize for oil and starch produces by-products that are available to the animal feed industry. In addition, the production of maize beer produces waste products that may be used in feed formulations. In 2000, the total grain production was recorded at a little over 25 million tonnes, and comprised maize, sorghum, millet, rice and wheat (Table 8).

3.4.2 Protein supplements

Shrimp waste meal

The Nigerian shrimp fishery is predominantly an export oriented industry with annual revenues of approximately US$2.4 million. Annual production figures are estimated at 72 000 tonnes. Annual processing generates approximately 34 900 tonnes of waste (head, shell; Table 9). Assuming a conversion ratio of 4 to 1 wet waste to dry by-product (Balogun and Akegbejo-Samsons, 1992), there is the potential to produce 8 820 tonnes of dry shrimp waste meal per annum. Shrimp waste meal may be included in poultry and fish feeds. Primarily, it is added as an attractant, and secondarily, as a protein source. Unfortunately, the high chitin content of the meal restricts its inclusion to low levels in animal feeds. The cost and availability of shrimp heads and shells in Nigeria are presented in Table 9.

Table 8. Cereal grains and by-products availability in Nigeria (2000)

Table 9. Shrimp wastes availability in Nigeria (2000)

Fishmeal

Currently, Nigeria has only one fishmeal processing plant producing in excess of 8 000 tonnes of meal per annum. The lack of production capacity suggests that at present, the bulk of the animal feed industry's requirement has to be imported. Thus, of the estimated 65 253 tonnes of fishmeal available in Nigeria in 2000, 13.4 percent was sourced from local production, and the remaining was imported - predominantly from Norway and Denmark. The cost and availability of local and imported fishmeals available in Nigeria are presented in Table 10. It should be noted that current low fuel prices may make it cost effective to open new fishmeal processing plants in the country.

Table 10. Fishmeal availability in Nigeria (2000)

Slaughterhouse wastes

Animal blood and offal from slaughterhouses (abattoirs, poultry processing plants and tanneries) constitute a significant and inexpensive source of animal protein supplements. In 2000, 154 287 tonnes of blood meal and slaughterhouse wastes were available to the animal feed industry (Table 11). Although Nigeria has a large domestic livestock industry, there is little evidence of increased exploitation of abattoir wastes. This is due to cultural, religious and social taboos restricting the use of these wastes. It should be noted that this resource merits the attention of the animal feed industry. There are also few processing plants from which rendered poultry by-products can be obtained. In most cases, the wastes are immediately recycled and used in farm-made feeds for pigs and fish, and as such, are not available to the feed industry. The cost and availability of slaughterhouse wastes in Nigeria are presented in Table 11.

Table 11. Slaughterhouse wastes availability in Nigeria (2000)

Premixed protein concentrates

Protein concentrates were first imported into Nigeria in the 1960s. Initially they were imported in small quantities and mixed with maize to produce simple basal feeds. However, over the last decade there has been widespread interest in the establishment of poultry and piggery enterprises. This has stimulated an increase in the demand for concentrated feeds. The concentrates are imported duty free - mainly from Great Britain, France and Germany. The current cost and availability of protein concentrates in Nigeria are presented in Table 12.

Table 12. Protein concentrate availability in Nigeria (2000)

Cottonseed oilcake

The annual processing capacity of the cottonseed crushers in Nigeria is 520 160 tonnes (Table 13). This figure is far higher than the national requirement, and hence, Nigeria is a net exporter of cottonseed oilcakes - mainly to Egypt and South Africa.

Table 13. Oilseed cakes availability in Nigeria (2000)

Soybean cake

The recent inclusion of soya to infant formulations combined with an increased demand for soymilk, has stimulated the local production of soybeans. In 2000, over 255 200 tonnes of soybeans were produced. Nevertheless, production fell short of the national demand (750 000 tonnes; Shaib et al.,1997), and thus, Nigeria is currently a net importer of soybeans. Thus, in 2000, over 500 000 tonnes of whole seeds were imported into the country. The imports were mainly for human consumption and oil extraction; the majority (about three-quarters) of which were diverted to the animal feed industry for full-fat oilcake production. The oilcake produced supplied the animal feed industries with a little over 200 000 tonnes, of which approximately two-thirds (145 045 tonnes) were full-fat oilcake.

Groundnut oilcake

The annual groundnut crop in Nigeria is 1 821 000 tonnes. Assuming that all the seeds are available for crushing, this crop will produce approximately 1 116 096 tonnes of oilcake. However, this is an unlikely scenario as groundnuts serve as both, a food item and an export commodity. Traditionally, the country has been an exporter of groundnut oilcake, and despite lower production in recent years (producing local shortages), some of this production still finds its way out of the country's northern borders. Despite this, in 2000, 632 749 tonnes of groundnut cake were produced for the domestic animal feed industry (Table 13).

Palm kernel cake

As a result of the ageing palm plantations and a reduction in processing capacity, palm oil production has been declining since the late 1980s. Nevertheless, the recent establishment of high nut-yielding oil palm plantations (imported from Malaysia) produces an annual crop of 774 000 tonnes of palm nuts. These nuts yield over 400 000 tonnes of palm kernel cake for the animal feed industry (Table 13). Unfortunately, palm kernel cake has a low feed value for non-ruminant animals. In the last five years, neither palm oil nor palm kernel cake was imported into Nigeria.

Sesame cake

In 2000, a small quantity of sesame oilcake (ca. 40 000 tonnes) was obtained from crushing the country's sesame seed harvest. The oilcake is not of major importance to the animal feed industry.

3.4.3 Grain legumes and forest seeds

Throughout the country, grain legumes and forest seeds are readily available in the human food markets. There is a large number of grain legumes and forest seeds used in human diets, however, only a few are available for use in animal feeds (Table 14). Principally, poor quality beans (broken beans, insect infested beans) are converted to commercial and household animal feeds. Nevertheless, their use is limited by the endogenous antinutritive factors that they contain, and the resultant extended cooking time required to inactivate them (Udedibe, 1990). The cost and availability of some grain legumes and forest seeds are presented in Table 14.

3.4.4 Starchy roots and tubers

As root crops constitute the main staple in the diet of the human population, they are primarily grown for human consumption. Nigeria has become the world's largest producer of cassava with over 30 million tonnes produced in 2000 (Table 15). It is estimated that annually, the peels, leaves, pomace (from starch) and garri (cassava flour) residues will amount to 5 million tonnes. The current cost and availability of some starchy roots and tubers are presented in Table 15. Cocoyam is a corm grown in southern Nigeria where it is a staple food. Elsewhere, it is subsidiary to yam.

Table 14. Grain legume and forest seeds availability in Nigeria (2000)

Table 15. Starchy root/tuber availability in Nigeria (2000)

3.4.5 Oils

There is a variety of oils on the Nigerian market. Their availability is inconsistent, and hence prices remain unstable. The cost and availability of local and imported oils are presented in Table 16.

Table 16. Local and imported oils availability in Nigeria (2000)

3.4.5 Feed additives

All the feed additives currently available in Nigeria are imported from western Europe and the United States. Table 17 presents the cost and availability of some of the principle feed additives available in Nigeria.

Table 17. Feed additive availability in Nigeria (2000)

3.5 Legislation and government policies

In the absence of well-defined feed standard legislation, the government has harnessed other policy instruments designed to support the feed manufacturing industry. Under the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act, integrated poultry production together with the manufacture of animal feeds, has been transferred from a Schedule II listing to a Schedule III listing. This enables foreign investors to participate in the industry - either individually or in joint ventures with Nigerians. Under the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Act of 1971, the manufacture of animal feeds was placed on the list of pioneer industries (Anon., 1977). This ensures a five-year tax holiday to new feed millers entering the industry. These measures are aimed at stimulating investments in the animal feed mill industry.

Imported feed mill equipment - like other agricultural equipment - is exempt from customs duties. Similarly, in order to ensure a regular supply of ingredients for the manufacture of animal feeds, the importation of raw materials such as fishmeal, soybean, concentrates and other premixes are also duty free. There is a ban on the exportation of locally based ingredients such as maize, wheat offal, groundnut cake, palm kernel cake, etc. Under the Approved Users Scheme, concessions are granted to bonafide feed millers in respect of import licences and foreign exchange allocations. Closely related to the foregoing fiscal incentive measures are (i) the Form M arrangement and (ii) the obligatory preshipment inspection of goods by the Federal Government agents (Anon.,1984). These are designed to protect the industry from foreign exporters who may be shipping inferior raw materials. Stringent checks are made on the nutrients and micronutrients (e.g. vitamins and trace minerals) in concentrates before they are imported to Nigeria.

4. Aquaculture production in Nigeria

During 2000, the country produced over 30 000 tonnes of freshwater and brackish water fish (Table 18). The aquaculture industry is primarily based on tilapia and catfish, cultivated in intensive (commercial) and semi-intensive (artisanal) production systems. Both systems involve the input of supplementary formulated feeds, which account for up to 40 percent and 60 percent of production costs, respectively (Fagbenro, 1987; Satia, 1990).

Two sources of fish feeds have been identified. These are farm-made aquafeeds and commercially produced pelleted feeds. There are only a few commercially available pelleted fish feeds - only specialized animal feed millers engage in fish feed production, and this is only on demand; and as such, the majority of fish feeds produced (69.75 percent; Table 19) are farm-made. Nevertheless, the two main types of feeds produced are for the tilapia, which contain 30 - 35 percent crude protein, and catfish, which contain 45 - 50 percent crude protein. In 2000, the Nigerian aquaculture industry used an estimated 35 570 tonnes of feed representing a negligible proportion (< 1 percent) of the national feed production. The ingredients used in these feeds and the basic formulations used are presented in Table 20.

Table 18. Nigerian aquaculture production in 2000

Table 19. Fish feeds production (tonnes) in 2000

Table 20. Ingredients used for fish feed production in Nigeria

5. Summary

In recent years, Nigerian feed resources have been in decline, because of the stagnant or diminishing output of certain traditional crops. Recent statistics demonstrate that the country increasingly relies on imports to meet the needs of an expanding livestock industry. In recent years, it has had to rely heavily on imports to supplement domestic grain production. To meet increasing needs for feedstuffs, current national production will have to be increased and alternative sources to be exploited. Nigeria has the potential for expanding its feed resource base. A substantial increase in crop production is also believed to be possible.

6. Acknowledgements

This report was compiled with the cooperation of Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Livestock Growers Association of Nigeria (LGAN), Nigerian Farmers Congress, Aquaculturists and Fish Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFFAN), Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), Government Livestock and Fisheries Departments, National Research Institutions and Universities.

7. References

Anon. 1977. A guide to business in Nigeria. Coopers & Lybrand, Nigeria. 53pp.

Anon. 1984. Nigeria: A guide for businessmen and investors. Coopers & Lybrand, Nigeria. 68pp.

Balogun, A.M. & Akegbejo-Samsons, Y. 1992. Waste yield, proximate and mineral composition of shrimp resources of Nigeria's coastal waters. Bioresource Technology 40: 157-161.

Fagbenro, O.A. 1987. A review of biological and economical principles underlying commercial fish culture production in Nigeria. Journal of West African Fisheries, 3: 171 - 177.

Satia, B.P. 1990. National reviews for aquaculture development in Africa. 29. Nigeria. FAO Fisheries Circular. No.770.29. FAO, Rome. 193pp.

Shaib, B., Aliyu, A. & Bakshi, J.S. 1997. Nigeria: National Agricultural Research Strategy Plan 1996 - 2010. Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Abuja, Nigeria. 335pp.

Tewe, O.O. 1998. Sustainability and development: paradigms from Nigeria's livestock industry. University of lbadan, Nigeria. 9 October 1997. 42pp. (Inaugural Lecture)

Udedibe, A.B.I. 1990. Nutritional evaluation of jack bean (Cannavalia ensiformis) for the Nigerian poultry industry. AMBIO 19: 361 - 365.