The Eastern International Poultry Summit 2026 has officially commenced in Enugu, establishing itself as the largest poultry and livestock trade exhibition ever held in South-East Nigeria. Operating under the theme “From Farm to Market: Scaling Nigeria’s Poultry Trade and Investment,” the two-day summit has attracted poultry farmers, agribusiness executives, investors, and policymakers from across the South-East geo-political zone and beyond.
Organized by the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), South-East Zone, the summit aims to strengthen commercial relationships, trade linkages, and investment flows within the regional poultry value chain. The event also serves as a capacity-building platform, facilitating knowledge exchange and strategic networking among stakeholders dedicated to transforming poultry farming into a structured, profitable, and sustainable industry.
The summit received high-level endorsements from state and regional development authorities. Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, has publicly reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the livestock sector as a cornerstone of his food security agenda.
The South East Development Commission (SEDC) used the platform to announce a strategic pledge to prioritize poultry development across the region. Representing SEDC Managing Director Mark Okoye Jnr., Dr. Cliff Ogbede, Executive Director for Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, delivered a keynote address stating that poultry farming would receive dedicated resources to improve nutrition, drive economic growth, and generate thousands of jobs.
SEDC’s vision is to recreate the agricultural success of the defunct Eastern Region under Dr. Michael Okpara by positioning the South-East as Nigeria’s leading producer of poultry products. The commission also committed to working with stakeholders to develop policies that reduce investment risks and establish a robust regional market for poultry products.
The summit featured a comprehensive program of expositions, goodwill messages, and technical sessions:
Theme Exposition: Dr. Baba Wageti, General Manager of Marketing & Sales and Head of the Technical Team at Adamore Nig. Ltd, unpacked the summit’s theme and outlined practical pathways for scaling poultry trade and investment.
Welcome Address: Sir Izuolisa Onu, National Vice President of PAN, South-East, and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, highlighted critical industry challenges, including soaring feed and day-old chick costs, weak cold-chain logistics, limited access to finance, and poor market linkages.
Goodwill Messages & Presentations: Company heads and industry representatives shared insights on innovation, investment opportunities, and public-private partnerships aimed at strengthening the poultry value chain.
Panel Sessions: Described as highly insightful, the panel discussions equipped stakeholders with actionable knowledge on modern poultry farming practices, value addition, processing, and market access strategies.
While celebrating the region’s potential, the summit also addressed pressing realities. PAN warned that rising production costs—particularly for feed and day-old chicks—are threatening the survival and growth of Nigeria’s poultry industry. In response, stakeholders called on the Federal Government to introduce policies that de-risk the sector and attract both local and foreign investment.
Despite these challenges, the summit underscored significant opportunities:
Nigeria’s large and growing consumer market for eggs and chicken.
The South-East’s entrepreneurial culture and existing poultry businesses.
Access to regional markets within West Africa.
Ongoing federal initiatives such as the $1 billion National Integrated Poultry Project, with Enugu among the pilot states.
The Eastern International Poultry Summit 2026 has sent a clear message: the future of the livestock sector in the South-East is no longer informal or fragmented—it is structured, strategic, and built to last. With coordinated efforts among farmers, policymakers, development agencies, and investors, the region is poised to become a hub for poultry production, processing, and trade in Nigeria.
As Dr. Ogbede of SEDC stated:
“When we align production with markets, and production with finance, Nigeria’s poultry sector will not just feed us, it will employ us and export for us.”
Drawing from expert submissions at the summit, five priority actions were identified to transform poultry from subsistence farming into a competitive, investment-ready industry:
Build a regional poultry database for real-time monitoring of production, prices, and demand.
Aggregate input procurement to reduce costs of feed, vaccines, and equipment.
Expand processing and cold-chain capacity to minimize post-harvest losses.
Develop export-ready producers who meet international quality and safety standards.
Attract investment into value-chain bottlenecks such as hatcheries, feed mills, and logistics.
The Eastern International Poultry Summit 2026 has not only united the South-East’s poultry community—it has laid the foundation for a transformative era in Nigeria’s agribusiness landscape.
