Agriculture, Featured
Many Nigerian experts have severally criticized the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development as unnecessary duplication and enlarging the already oversized ministries, but taping the huge potential of the livestock sector by opening up the value-chains and enhancing their economic growth and development will no doubt translate to more jobs for the youth as well as create and ensure food, feed and nutrition security locally and the export of products from the sector
By Goddy Ikeh
ALTHOUGH President Bola Tinubu approved the creation of the new Federal Ministry of Livestock Development at a time when Nigerians were already complaining of the large size of the executive and the need for the reduction in the number of ministries.
However, beyond the need to tackle the age-long farmers-herders crisis, there are huge benefits of establishing the ministry if efforts are made to open up the value chains in the sector for the benefit of Nigerians.
Apart from the establishment of the Livestock ministry which was one of the recommendations of the National Livestock Reforms Committee which was submitted in September 2023. In addition, the Presidential Livestock Reforms Implementation Committee has submitted its report. And some of the other recommendations of the committee included the adoption of both ranching and open grazing, at least in the short term, to halt the recurring clashes between farmers and pastoralists across the country. The committee, which Professor Attahiru Jega, served as the Co-Chairman advised against abandoning pastoralism abruptly for ranching without consideration for those huge population who have their lives built around the system, would not be advisable.
Speaking to journalists after the presentation of the 152-page to President Bola Tinubu, Jega stated that the committee’s long-term objective was to promote intensive livestock production through ranching.
“As many of you may recall, Mr. President inaugurated this committee on the 9th of July, and the committee began work immediately after inauguration, and we have now been able to produce what we call an Inception Report, which contains very wide ranging recommendations as to how our country can tap the potentials of the livestock sector, in terms of opening up the value-chain in this sector and ensuring that by so doing, we develop all sectors in the value-chains to enhance economic growth and development, create jobs, and also ensure that we are not only able to bring about food, feed and nutrition security, but we are also able to significantly begin to export many of the products that are associated with this sector.
“We believe that there has been a neglect of this sector for a very long time and we are very happy that Mr. President has recognised the need to redress this neglect and has invited us to contribute to finding ways and the means of unlocking the opportunities in this sector.
“So I’m very pleased to say that today we presented an inception report to Mr. President and it’s a document of about 152 pages, divided into five sectors. In this report, we were able to address 12 terms of reference that were given to us as a committee, and we were able to develop 22 clear objectives of what the reform effort in the livestock sector should entail.
“We’ve been able to make very specific recommendations on each of these issue areas. In addition to that, we were also able to identify achievable targeted indicators, about 3,146 of them, and we believe that by pursuing these and actualising them, there is no doubt that within a reasonable time frame, in fact, we believe with a focused attention and the effort in implementation, maximum within a period of 10 years, we would be able to actually, remarkably, see improvements in virtually all aspects of the livestock sector; from the large animals to the small ruminants.”
Jega added, “The opportunities are there. In fact, quite often in Nigeria, when you speak about livestock development, people tend to think you are only talking about cows, but the livestock sector is much more than cows and obviously there is in it for everybody, once the conducive environment is created, once the government provide, not just the enabling environment, but other support services that can ensure the unlocking and expansion of these potentials and we have done our best in this Inception report, we have even made recommendations.
“As you are aware, Mr. President has already announced the establishment of Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, and in our report, we have provided detailed guidance in terms of how to set up this ministry, what the structure of the ministry should be, what the mission, the vision, the objectives, the functions of the ministry should be, how many departments it should have, how many technical departments, that is, how many service units should it have, how many institutes should it have, how many research centers it should have, and so on and so forth.
“So we believe that our recommendations are quite comprehensive and if we can meticulously get them implemented, no doubt, very soon, we will begin to see the positive impact in our economy, whether it is in terms of job creation or in terms of development of products and services or even opening up opportunities for export related to these aspects of the livestock sector,” Jega said.
The other members of the committee highlighted the potential growth and development that the establishment of the new Federal Ministry of Livestock Development held for Nigeria and investors in the livestock sector.
According to them, Nigeria boasts of an impressive livestock population with 563 million poultry, 600 million sheep, 124 million goats, 58 million cattle, and 16 million pigs, making it the largest livestock producer in West Africa and fifth in the entire continent and that the poultry sector alone had ₦1.7 trillion in investment.
The report by ThisDay quoted a member of the committee, Prof. Placid Njoku as saying that Nigeria’s livestock sector was a goldmine waiting to be tapped and with an estimated economic value of at least ₦33 trillion.
Njoku explained that the livestock sector encompassed a wide range of animals, including chickens, goats, sheep, cattle, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, and others.
Prof Jega later gave more insight into the benefits of a reformed Livestock sector. Delivering a keynote address at the Ngarannam Livestock Improvement and Ranch Settlement, Mafa, Local Government Area of Borno State on Saturday, January 11, 2025, Prof Jega disclosed that “the livestock reform initiatives being driven by Mr. President, have already been attracting key international trading partners to invest into the sector. For example, JBS S.A. a global leader in meat processing and export has announced readiness to invest $2.5 billion in the sector, signed a letter of intent with the FG. Saudi Arabia, has made some commitments, and USA and China have expressed interest or have given indication of willingness to invest.”
Apart from the benefits of the Livestock sector, Prof. Jega listed seven major challenges associated with the Nigerian livestock sector which include: Low productivity and efficiency of local breeds, Inadequate infrastructure and services, Conflicts between herders and farmers, Limited access to markets, Limited access to finance, Constraints in pasture, fodder and feeds production.
He, however, assured that the Presidential Livestock Reforms Implementation Committee would continue to use every opportunity to bring critical issues in livestock development to the national spotlight, and to pursue continuous engagement with key stakeholders, across all the value chains.
Perhaps, if the nation is really interested in developing the Livestock sector, it can still be a major pillar of Nigeria’s national economy. The nation has abundant land and water resources, covering 923,767 km2, of which over 708,000 km2 can be dedicated to agriculture, including livestock. There is therefore the urgent need for transformative reforms in Nigeria’s livestock sector to enhance productivity, reduce poverty, generate wealth, and bolster both domestic and international trade through import substitution.
A.I
Jan. 21, 2025
Tags: Nigeria’s Livestock Sector President Bola Tinubu
