HIGH COST OF EGGS WORRIES RESIDENTS OF ENUGU METROPOLIS

Sellers and consumers of eggs in Enugu are lamenting on the high cost of the commodity. They are therefore calling for intensified efforts by various governments to bring down the cost of production; which is blamed on the cost of poultry feeds.

Over the years, the eggs of some animals have been special delicacies for humans, the most preferred being those of some birds, especially chicken. Eggs store significant amount of protein and chroline. The egg york is said to contain more than two-third of the recommended daily intake of three hundred milligram of cholesterol.  This underscores the importance of egg in our food requirement.

A Nutritionist, Mrs. Amanda Ejike speaks more on the nutritional value of eggs.

“It contains a lot of protein, minerals, water, a little of carbohydrate, sodium, and calcium. All the B vitamins are found in egg, vitamin B2, B6, B12, A and D, fats lipid, phospholipids. So when you take egg, you are actually taking a complete meal”.

In view of these nutritional benefits, consumers of egg in Enugu are worried over the recent increase in the price, which they believe might deny them access to the commodity.

“ It is too expensive nowooo!! I use to buy like a crate of big ones nine hundred but now that  same size goes for one thousand five hundred.’’

‘’It is difficult now for us to buy egg, before we use to buy it at seven-fifty, now is one thousand-three hundred, one thousand-five hundred eeee!’’

‘’If the egg comes only from Ota farm, I wonder what will  happen, the thing is that government should do something”.

Mrs. Onyinye Ilo, Mr. Okechukwu Anakudo and Mrs. Oby Eze who are all poultry farm owners blamed the high cost of the commodity on the economic situation in the country.

 “The skyrocketing of the price of egg is not made by the farmers, the farmers are also struggling because as the price is going so  high we don’t have as much demand for eggs as we do have before’’.

 ‘’There are so many other inputs in form of the feed, the water, the medications and other smaller supplements that the chickens take in order to produce egg, so when all these things  put together appreciate in the price, you definitely will not expect the chicken to lay without having an increase’’.

‘’ A bag of layers marsh was going for two thousand-two hundred and fifty naira, then we were selling like six hundred and fifty naira per crate but compare to now that we get the same bag of feed for almost four thousand naira”.

 Two retailers of eggs, Mrs. Beatric Ezeugo and Miss Ebelechukwu Nwafor said that the size which previously sold at six hundred or six hundred and fifty naira, a create is now sold at one thousand or one thousand, one hundred naira.

“We have one thousand one, one thousand-two, nine hundred, the nine hundred is small size or nine-fifty, we use to sell that one thousand, two  before eight-fifty or seven-fifty”.

“Early last year, I can remember when I bought eggs at six hundred per crate, I bought five-fifty, six-fifty depending on the size, but right now I buy eggs at one thousand and for one thousand-one”.

The consumers and farmers all agreed that there was need for an intervention which would help bring down the cost of production as well as prices of egg.