In many parts of Nigeria today, poultry farming is steadily evolving from a backyard survival business into one of the country’s most promising economic sectors. Across homes, restaurants, hotels and fast-food chains, demand for chicken and eggs continues to rise, driven by Nigeria’s growing population of more than 220 million people.
Yet despite the massive market and Nigeria’s enormous agricultural potential, local production still struggles to fully meet demand. For years, conversations around the country’s economy have remained heavily tilted toward oil, while sectors capable of creating widespread grassroots prosperity received far less attention than they deserved. Poultry farmers continue to battle rising feed costs, infrastructure gaps and limited access to finance, but the industry remains one of the fastest-growing agricultural sectors in the country, a reminder that some of Nigeria’s biggest economic opportunities may still be sitting far away from the oil fields.
That reality is now shaping a major economic push in Ekiti State.
In Ado Ekiti this week, hundreds of youths gathered for a five-day poultry production training programme organised under the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project, popularly known as L-Pres. The programme, themed “Capacity Strengthening on Good Animal Husbandry Practices for Youths in Ekiti Broiler Production Scheme,” focused on modern broiler production techniques and animal husbandry practices.
Beyond the training itself, the state government unveiled a bigger ambition, empowering and engaging more than 5,000 youths in poultry production within the next two years.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Ebenezer Boluwade, said the initiative forms part of the state’s broader strategy to create jobs and strengthen food production through agriculture.
“Here, we are training 500 youths, but the objective in the next two years is that we want to employ more than 5,000 Ekiti youths across the value chain,” Boluwade said.
According to him, the government is not only focusing on poultry farming but on building an entire value chain covering production, processing and distribution.
He explained that one of the first major challenges being addressed is infrastructure, particularly poultry pens.
“The starting point for us is to address the issue of pens, which L-Pres is helping us to solve,” he said.
Boluwade disclosed that the state plans to establish capacity for about 300,000 pens across roughly 10 centres before the end of the year, with projections to produce up to one million birds annually.
The commissioner also revealed plans to establish two processing centres to strengthen market access and reduce waste.
“We are also setting up two processing centres in Ekiti State to complement the production. So, as we are producing from the upstream, the midstream is taking it to the processing centre, and as the processing centre is processing it, it is also being taken to the market. The market can be local or international,” he said.
He added that the state’s cargo airport could support movement of poultry products to cities such as Lagos and Abuja, while also opening export opportunities.
Industry experts have long described poultry as one of Nigeria’s most commercially viable agricultural sectors. Beyond farming itself, the industry supports livelihoods through feed production, transportation, veterinary services, hatcheries and retail supply.
The relatively short production cycle of broiler farming also makes it attractive to many young entrepreneurs, especially at a time when unemployment remains a major national challenge.
Lead Consultant, Olayemi Salako, said participants in the programme were being trained on modern broiler production methods designed to improve productivity and profitability.
“The expectation from this training is that participants will be able to have their own farms,” Salako said.
He added that trainees were also being educated on safer alternatives to excessive antibiotic use in poultry farming due to concerns around public health.
Permanent Secretary of the Ekiti State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Ebenezer Ojo, described the programme as part of efforts to modernise agricultural practices and strengthen food security.
“Your role remains critical in driving value chain development and ensuring the long-term resilience of the livestock sector in Ekiti State,” Ojo told participants.
The initiative is being implemented under L-Pres, a World Bank-supported programme focused on improving livestock productivity, resilience and commercialisation in Nigeria.
For many of the youths gathered in Ado Ekiti, the programme reflected a growing belief that agriculture, when supported with infrastructure, training and market access, can become a serious engine of economic opportunity.
If Ekiti succeeds in creating the proposed 5,000 jobs while scaling poultry production toward one million birds annually, the state could emerge as a strong example of how agriculture can drive youth empowerment and economic growth in Nigeria.
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