SEDC to boost South-East economy through development of poultry industry

The South East Development Commission, SEDC, has unveiled plans to prioritise the development of the poultry industry in the South-East as a means of boosting economic growth in the region.

The plan was unveiled at the Eastern International Poultry Summit 2026, organised by the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, South-East zone, on Tuesday. SEDC Executive Director, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, SEDC, Dr. Cliff Ogbede, in a keynote address at the summit with the theme, ‘From Farm to Market: Scaling Nigeria’s Poultry Trade and Investment’, said the move would replicate the successes recorded by the Dr Michael Okpara-led defunct Eastern Region government, which harnessed agricultural resources to achieve economic growth in the region.

Ogbede, who represented the Managing Director of SEDC, Mark Okoye Jr., noted that the development of the poultry industry in the South-East would not only enhance nutrition, but also catalyse economic growth and create thousands of jobs in the region.

According to him, the SEDC’s ultimate objective is for the South-East to become the highest producer of poultry products in the country.

Ogbede lamented the reliance of the South-East other regions of the country for livestock and food, while under-utilising its vast agricultural potential, which the administration of Dr. Michael Okpara took advantage of in the 1950s and 60s to fast-track economic growth in eastern Nigeria.  

He recalled that under Okpara as Premier, the Eastern region, then comprising the current South-East and South-South states, ranked among the fastest growing economies in the world until the civil war changed the story.

He said, “We have been lamenting about marginalistion since after the war. The South East was doing well when we had regional government. We had one of our brightest that led us, Dr. Michael Okpara and his vision was very intentional and was determined to grow the economy of the Eastern region.

“He constituted a team that looked at how one could take advantage of what one had in his environment to create a new world for oneself and was convinced that agriculture was the only pathway to our success and our growth. He did not shy away from taking advantage of agriculture to promote our growth. It took the egg heads that he assembled about 18 months to develop a blueprint on how to maximize our environment for the development of our region.

“And eventually when the implementation started, the region became one of the fastest growing economies in the world at that time. That era, people were more sincere. Government established businesses and ran them. Through agriculture, Dr Okpara developed the region, with Dr Azikiwe complementing with his alliances at the centre. If you talk about alliances today, some people will say, why should you go to the centre, we can do it alone. Azikiwe was futuristic, playing national politics and giving support to the man at the region to continue to move as fast as he could. So, they succeeded. They established Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation, which they used to catalyse private investment.

“However, the war came and changed the story. We survived the war. The experience of Rwanda after its genocidal war should be a lesson for those who are determined to move forward. Rwandans indeed moved forward to rebrand themselves and their nation. They no longer want to live in the past. That should be a lesson for people who want to survive.”

The target of the SEDC under the leadership of Mark Okoye Jnr. is to replicate what Okpara did in the 1950s and 60s by building the capacity of the South-East region in agriculture, including livestock production, Ogbede stated.

Explaining further, he said SEDC got experts to study and modernise Okpara’s agricultural programme.

“We started looking towards the future and how we can add value to the growth of businesses in our region. I am proud to tell you today that poultry development is one area that the SEDC will spend time and money to support.

“If you see the records of how much we send out of this region monthly just to buy cows and poultry products, you will know that we are in big trouble. It is unfortunate that in poultry production, we are no longer producing what will make meaning to our region.

“Many poultry farmers in the South-East could not survive because of climate issues and the high cost of feed, which we buy from other regions. We have become traders, marketing things that other people produce. By the time we do not get cattle from the North and poultry from the South-West, there will be a calamity in the South-East.

“Even now, the rate of poultry we are consuming is obviously not up to the target. We are not consuming up to 15 percent of the kilogram of poultry an individual should consume in a year. We are not getting enough nutrition from agriculture.

“That is why people are importing all manner of things from many countries. Through the creation of regional development commissions, the regions are now beginning to compete amongst ourselves in Nigeria. In the South-East, we should do our best to reclaim our status as a region with the fastest growing economic potential,” Ogbede said.

He expressed optimism that with determination, proper planning, unity of purpose and collaboration, the south-East could overtake other regions in food and livestock production.

Stressing the need for collaboration towards the success of the plan, Ogbede observed that development partners complained bitterly that the people in the South-East prefer to work in silos, rather than collaborate. He also disclosed that development partners are willing to make capital available to poultry industry operators in the region.

In the same vein, he advised the youths in the South-East to stop rushing to Lagos and Abuja in search of jobs when the wealth of the nation is within their region. He stressed that with good climate and reasonable people, the economy of the South-East can grow to the scale of the economies of developed countries like Japan.

“Agriculture is a big business. If you go to Netherlands, the landmass is probably like Imo and Abia states, but that country is making more than $150 billion from agriculture annually. We are here every day talking about oil and how we are marginalised, when we can convert our environment to money making industries. The President did well by allowing us to have SEDC. Other presidents for 55 years did not make it possible to have such a commission. So, the race for growth and development of the South-East has started.

“We also have the mandate to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed in the South-East during the war. We have erosion sites everywhere. Climate challenges are real and within us. So, we have to be very strategic. We will look at how to protect our environment. We are going to do a lot in agriculture. Our children should feed and our food should have enough nutritional value. We must also be intentional in making money from agriculture in our environment,” he added while assuring that the commission will work with the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN.

The National Vice President, PAN, Sir Izuolisa Onu, recalled that the South-East was once the largest poultry hub in Nigeria, before dropping to its current position as the second largest behind the South-West.

Tracing the history of the summit, Onu explained that the idea came up the time that the North refused to bring food to the South-East.

“We started talking and asked why we cannot develop the poultry industry, which is the lowest hanging fruit for South-East to pick, to catalyse economic growth and create jobs in the region,” he said, while assuring that a framework for the development of the poultry industry in the South-East and Nigeria in general would be conceptualized from the summit.

Onu said they were happy to have the SEDC and state governments participating at this year’s summit, adding that the discussions were going to be centred on how they can make the poultry industry impactful on the region.

Also speaking, a former Adviser to the United States Department of Agriculture, Uche Nzeka, called for the production of a comprehensive poultry development strategy for the region.

Nzeka expressed hope that a comprehensive poultry development strategy would address all the problems of poultry farmers in the region, such as the absence of hatcheries, reliance on feed from outside the region and absence of unified protocol for addressing the outbreak of animal diseases. He also advocated for the establishment of an integrated commercial value chain for the poultry industry in the South-East.

Other participants at the summit include two other Executive Directors from SEDC, Toby Okechukwu (Projects) and Chief Sylvester Okonkwo (Corporate Services), the Commissioner for Agriculture, Anambra State, Dr. Ben Chuks Odoemena and Imo State Commissioner for Livestock Development, Dr. Anthony Mgbeahuruike.