FG plans 6-ACTIONS TO SOLVE FARMERS-HERDERS CRISES

Cow

The Federal Government (FG) may have charted out plans on how to tackle the frequent clashes between the farmers and herdsmen in about ten (10) states of the federation.

Towards this, a six action plan has been stipulated to be carried out by the FG in 10 states that have willingly shown interest as the Technical Adviser to the National Economic Council (NEC) Mr. Andrew Kwasari presented the  plan to economic members in Abuja recently.

The content presented by Technical Adviser, Mr. Andrew Kwasari read thus “A 6-point plan has been rolled out to solve the problem between herdsmen and farmers. The plan is ‘The National Livestock Transformation Plan’- it will be rolled out in 10 key states across Nigeria. The federal government on Tuesday, June 19, presented a 6-point plan to end the growing crisis between herdsmen and farmers across Nigeria. The presentation of the new plan was made by the Technical Adviser to the National Economic Council (NEC), Andrew Kwasari, in Abuja and attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentAuduOgbeh, and the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom. During the presentation Kwasari showed that the plans stemmed from the meetings and recommendations by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and NEC in 2017.

The six-point pillar themed: The National Livestock Transformation Plan listed by the FG includes;

1.       Economic Investment: This pillar, the FG will support and strengthen the development of the market driven ranches in seven pilot states. It would help improve livestock productivity through breed (genetic) improvement and pasture production, in addition to efficient land and water productivity.

2.       Conflict Resolution: the government also said it will rebuild social capital at the community level to promote mutual trust, confidence building and consolidate the peace process, with regards to the conflict resolution pillar.

3.       Law and Other: The plan also shows that the law and other pillar would support the strengthen of legal frameworks for improving livestock production, peace and harmony.

4.       Humanitarian Relief: this will focus on rebuilding and reconstructing of common facilities, worship places, markets and individual homes that may have been destroyed.

5.       Information Education: This pillar will aid information, education and strategic communication on the development of grazing reserves in the frontline states and mitigate the consequences of these conflicts such as lost of live, destruction of properties including schools and facilities.

6.       Cross-cutting Issues: This identifies various cross-cutting issues necessary to realize the objectives of the programme, which includes monitoring and evaluation and research to contribute evidence base in programme implementation: as well as gender mainstreaming, the plan showed. The federal government also noted that the plan will be rolled out in 10 key states including Adamawa, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara. The plan also includes the creation of larger ranches in each of these states listed. ‘A Ranch Designed Plan has also been proposed in model of various sizes clustered in 94 locations in 10 pilot states. The government intends to transit from pastoralism to ranching in order to reduce the struggle for common resources,’ He added that  Cluster 30, 60 150 and 300 cow ranch models in a location within the donated gazetted grazing reserves, and ‘‘ minimum of 1000 cows breeders ranch in 7 of the pilot states’’.