Ogun State has advanced its food security agenda with the completion of a poultry processing facility capable of handling 5,000 birds daily at Ajegunle Farm Settlement in Odeda Local Council, a move that raises the state’s annual processing capacity by about 1.3 million birds at a time Nigeria still imports an estimated 70 per cent of its poultry needs.
The facility, delivered under the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project, is expected to reduce reliance on imported poultry products while supporting local farmers and processors across the value chain. State officials say the new plant positions Ogun to play a more active role in narrowing the national poultry supply gap and improving protein availability.
Ajegunle Farm Settlement, now designated as a poultry hub, hosts about 400 resident farmers and is equipped with shared infrastructure including blast freezers, cold rooms, waste processing facilities, a central warehouse with fitted offices and poultry pens with a combined capacity of 20,000 birds. Private sector participation is also growing at the settlement, with an investor completing an additional poultry pen with capacity for 13,000 birds, reinforcing the role of public-private collaboration in scaling production.
The state government disclosed that 28 agricultural projects have been completed in the last two years through OGSTEP, with support from programmes such as VCDP, OG-CARES and SAPZ. These interventions are designed to raise productivity, improve rural livelihoods and reduce Nigeria’s annual post-harvest losses, currently estimated at about ₦3.5 trillion, a major drain on farmers’ incomes and food availability.
Low domestic consumption remains a challenge for the poultry sector. Nigeria’s per capita chicken consumption is estimated at between 1.7kg and 2kg, far below levels recorded in other African and emerging economies, highlighting both a nutrition gap and a significant market opportunity for local producers, processors and MSMEs.
Further investments are also underway at Eweje Farm Institute, where 10 poultry pens with capacity for 10,000 birds each and five four-bedroom residential buildings have been constructed to support training, production and farm management. In Yewa South, the cassava processing facility at Odo Fufu in Ilaro is expected to deepen value addition, reduce waste and boost farmers’ earnings by linking primary production to processing and markets.
The state says its strategy going forward is to encourage farmers and private operators to take ownership of these facilities, supported by strong monitoring frameworks and public-private partnerships aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability, commercial viability and wider benefits for small agribusinesses across Ogun State and beyond.
