Inside Nigeria’s largest pig farm where farmers lost billions to African swine fever 

FOR Olanrewaju Ajabi, a pig farmer resident in Oke-Aro, Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, the year, 2020, will forever linger in her mind. Last year, she lost her spouse, Funsho Ajabi, to the effect of African Swine Fever (ASF) on their pig farm. He died from trauma.
Strangely, the double tragedy occurred during COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria. Close to a million pigs were reported dead. But more than 13 months after, no financial help has come her way, alongside relatives of other deceased farmers, some of who took loans to start the pig farming business. Unlike poultry farmers who get compensated once the Avian Influenza H5N1 (bird flu) strikes, those in piggery affected by the ASF are left to bear the brunt. Still, both diseases have no cure.