Pig farmers in Plateau State have raised the alarm over a devastating outbreak of African Swine Fever, reporting thousands of pig deaths and the closure of hundreds of farms, with estimated losses running into billions of naira.
In an open letter addressed to Governor Caleb Mutfwang and seen by our correspondent in Jos on Saturday, stakeholders in the sector confirmed the outbreak and appealed for urgent government intervention to prevent what they described as the collapse of the state’s pig industry, a major contributor to food security, employment and the state economy.
A pig farmer and Chief Executive Officer of Topnotch Pig Farms and Services, as well as a veterinary consultant at Saction Hub Limited, Joseph Yonkpa, speaking on the impact of the outbreak, said the scale of the losses was already severe, although an exact figure was yet to be determined.
“The number at the moment I cannot quantify, but they are in thousands. You can rightly say thousands of pigs have died,” he said.
He disclosed that the outbreak had forced widespread farm closures across the state.
