An outbreak of African Swine Fever is tearing through pig farms on the Ikangba and Agoro axis of Ogun State, The Guardian reported on 25 September 2026. The disease has been spreading for several weeks, and losses are estimated in the millions of naira.
Prices Collapse as Farmers Sell
The price of live pigs has fallen from between ₦2,000 and ₦2,500 per kg to between ₦700 and ₦900 per kg, a drop of between 55% and 72%. Farmers facing the loss of an entire herd are selling animals quickly at whatever price they can get, and some have abandoned the business altogether.
This is the third major African Swine Fever occurrence in the state's pig industry in the past decade.
Not a Risk to People
The disease does not infect humans. "ASF is not transmissible to humans, but its high level of contagion and mortality among pigs could have severe economic consequences for farmers and the wider food system," said Eko John Nicholas, National Coordinator of the Food and Farmers' Rights Campaign.
What Farmers Want
The campaign group has asked government for "compensation, relief materials, subsidised disinfectants and fumigants, as well as access to soft loans at single-digit interest rates." It also called for stronger disease surveillance, biosecurity, quarantine procedures and more investment in veterinary research and vaccine development.
What Comes After the Crash
Cheap pork now does not mean cheap pork later. The current prices reflect distress sales, not plentiful supply. When herds are wiped out and farmers leave the business, fewer pigs reach the market in the following months, and prices tend to rise sharply once the sell-off ends.
Ogun borders Lagos and its farms supply the city's markets, so buyers there are likely to feel the effect.
FoodPrices Nigeria tracks protein prices across Lagos markets and will follow how the outbreak changes what consumers pay for meat.