Nigeria's Livestock Sector Faces Crisis: Experts Propose Sweeping Reforms

Strategic Insights -

Professor Attahiru Jega, a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission and Special Adviser to the President on Livestock Reforms, has sounded the alarm on Nigeria's livestock sector, calling for sweeping reforms to avert a looming food crisis. Jega, delivering a lecture at the University of Ilorin, warned that neglecting the sector could lead to a serious risk of protein deficiency, worsening rural poverty, and deepening insecurity.

Key Takeaways:

  • Jega proposed the establishment of regional gene banks and artificial insemination laboratories to raise milk yields from one liter to at least 10 liters per cow per day by 2030.
  • A national livestock transformation strategy is needed to address the sector's underperformance and conflict, which could be transformed into a driver of peace, productivity, and prosperity.
  • Disease-resistant poultry breeds, mobile veterinary brigades, and stronger surveillance systems are necessary to guard against animal-borne disease outbreaks.
  • National Livestock Industrial Zones are required in all six geo-political regions, including export-certified abattoirs, cold-chain dairy clusters, and leather parks powered by renewable energy.
  • The adoption of climate-smart ranching, delineation of grazing reserves through a National Ranching Corridor System, could reduce farmer-herder clashes by up to 70 per cent within five years.
  • Operation Feed Abundance, a feed security initiative focused on expanding maize and soya feed mills in key agricultural states, is proposed to boost productivity.
  • A National Livestock Entrepreneurship Scheme, single-digit loans, and market access via digital platforms like LivestockNaija are recommended to support women and youth.
  • Special Livestock Export Zones in Lagos, Kano, and Jos, featuring halal and kosher certification centers and ECOWAS-compliant quarantine facilities, are recommended.

Statistics:

  • Nigeria faces a serious risk of protein deficiency due to neglect of the livestock sector.
  • Milk yields from one liter to at least 10 liters per cow per day are expected by 2030.
  • 70 per cent reduction in farmer-herder clashes is expected within five years through the adoption of climate-smart ranching and the delineation of grazing reserves.
  • Operation Feed Abundance aims to expand maize and soya feed mills in key agricultural states.

Sources:

  • President Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda