National Livestock: Minister, FAO advocate implementation

 The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar and the Country Representative, Food for Agriculture Organization (FAO) have both said that consistent implementation of the 10 years National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) will unlock the full economic potentials of the meat and dairy productivity into agricultural economy development in Nigeria.

They made this observation at the last April, 26th Tuesday summit on NLTP in Abuja, organized by the Agricultural Correspondent Association of Nigeria (ACAN) in partnership Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) 

 Both personalities acknowledged that the wealth potential of the Nigerian livestock industry, despite accounting for about 5% of the national gross domestic product has remained largely untapped due to Government’s inconsistent policy; poor animal husbandry practices , limited access to quality inputs and finance among others remain prevalent  as they suggested intensive consistency using the 10 year NLTP to solve challenges of the sub-sector towards rapid economic growth with job creation among the youths and women.  

 Agric Minister, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar noted that poor policy implementation and inconsistency have hindered livestock’s sub- sector development towards attaining maximum capital consumption of global average of 44 litres of milk and 19 kg of meat respectively per person annually, adding that Nigerians only consume 8 litres of milk, 9kg of meat and 3.5 kg of egg per annual which perfectly described our low consumption occasioned by uncompetitive productivity.

  Abubakar pointed that recent estimates from the ministry source showed livestock sector as endowed with abundant resources of 26.4 million cattle, 88.2 million goats, 50.3 million sheep, 8.9 million pigs, 465 million chickens, 36.4 million ducks, 3.8 million turkeys, 5.5 million Rabbits, 353,173 camels, and 1,234,284 donkeys, thereby putting the nation to top the list of producers in West Africa.

 The Minister who lamented on huge importation said that “consequently, a huge amount is spent on importation of food into the country, especially milk and dairy products. Inconsistent government policies, poorly functioning institutional settings, linkages, regulations and standards have failed to bring about significant and sustainable transformation in the sector with limited impact on livelihood of actors along the sector’s value chains’’

 He described the challenges in the sub sector as multi- facet with low animal breed quality with poor husbandry practices cum limited access to quality inputs and finance, while conflicts between herders and crop farmers among others remained prevalent in the country, adding that the effort to change this narrative through the consistent implementation of NLTP with other nationals and international stakeholders is already ongoing in the implementing states of the federation.

 Agreeing with Minister’s position on the effective implementation of NLTP, Fred Kaferro, Country Representative, FAO emphasised on the need to galvanise strong institutional set up for the effective implementation of NLTP at the national level in a very coordinated manner to achieve the desired result for the maximum commercialization of the sub sector for wealth and job creation along the value chain.

 Kaferro pointed that “we noted during the implementation of this programme with other UN Agencies that there is a need for a strong institutional set up to drive national level implementation in a coordinated manner. I will like to therefore call on the Federal and State Governments to review the implementation arrangement with a view to clarifying roles and responsibilities of state and federal level actors, development partners and private sector, including on areas of funding and resources mobilization. This will fast track its implementation, monitoring, evaluation, learning and accountability.

 The Chairman of ACAN, Oba John pointed that the livestock sector has remained a pillar of the global food system and a contributor to poverty reduction, food security and agricultural development, adding that the sector has N33 trillion naira in its kitty to add to the nation’s economy if it were properly positioned.

 Read the full text of the communiqué issued at the close of the meeting below..

 COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE NATIONAL LIVESTOCK TRANSFORMATION PLAN SUMMIT FROM 26TH – 27THAPRIL, 2022 AT THE NIGERIA AIRFORCE CONFERENCE CENTRE, KADO, FCT, ABUJA.

 PREAMBLE 

 The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and Agriculture Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ACAN) with support from Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd, organized a two-day Summit on the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) from 26th to 27th April, 2022. The Summit with the theme: ‘Positioning the Nigerian Livestock Industry for the 21st Century Economy: A Critical Look at the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP)’, drew participants from the National Assembly, Federal and State Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Research and Academic Institutions, Professional Bodies, Private and International Organizations including Industry Practitioners, Media and Policy Makers. The main objectives of the Summit: 

 a. Enlighten stakeholders, investors and the general public on the inherent investment opportunities in the livestock sub-sector.

  b. Dispel misconceptions held by Nigerians on the real intentions of the Government for initiating the NLTP, 

 c. Highlight modern and global best practices in livestock value chains for maximum returns,  d. Stimulate active participation of Nigerians to reap the full benefits of NLTP in the short, medium and long terms. 

 The Chairman of ACAN, Mr Oba Olasunkanmi John, delivered the welcome address. Goodwill messages were presented by the FAO Country Representative, Honourable Commissioner of Agriculture Plateau State, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Country Representative, the President of Nigeria Agribusiness Group, and the President of Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN).The Summit was declared open by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Dr, Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, who urged all participants to make implementable recommendations that would promote a successful implementation of the Plan. 

 The Summit featured Technical Sessions where all the implementing partners including the Department of Animal Husbandry Services, NLTP-PACE, Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Ltd., State Governments as well as other key stakeholders gave briefs on various interventions and progress so far in the implementation of NLTP. There were also Syndicate Group discussions in eight thematic areas, namely: National Livestock Breed Improvement, Animal Identification and Traceability System, Dairy Development Programme, National Pasture Development Programme and Animal Feed, Animal Health and Zoonosis Management; Development of Gazetted Grazing Reserves and Modern Ranches; Ruminant Livestock Intervention Programme-Beef Development and Hygienic Meat Processing, Leather, Sheep, Goat and Monogastric Livestock Intervention Programme.

 The Summit:

 i. Eulogized the foresight of the Federal Government in articulating the NLTP, which aims at tackling the challenges arising from the long-term neglect of the sub-sector;

 ii. Acknowledged that the economic potential of the Nigerian livestock sub-sector, which is valued at over NGN 33 trillion, is too big to be ignored; 

 iii. Recognized the importance of the livestock sub-sector as a pillar of the food system and economic development with huge possibilities for poverty reduction; youth and women empowerment; improved natural resources use efficiency and increased resilience of households to climate shocks;

 iv. Identified natural resources depletion, climate change impacts and inadequate capacity at the local level as major drivers of farmers/herders’ conflict;  

 v. Noted the persistent insecurity that is limiting the growth of the livestock industry in the country, especially at farm level. 

 vi. Noted that in spite of the multiple technical and operational challenges affecting the implementation of the NLTP, significant progress has been made at the Federal and State levels;

 vii. Emphasized the value of differentiation approach, which focuses on the existing realities and encourages flexibility, in the implementation of NLTP at all levels;

viii. Lauded the significant participation of the private sector in the dairy and other sub-components of the NLTP; 

 ix. Acknowledged the critical role of the media as a platform for dispelling misconceptions and promoting development; and

 x. Stressed the need for greater synergy and more robust coordination among all the key stakeholders implementing the NLTP.

 Key Recommendations from the Summit

 The Summit recommended as follows: 

i. There should be a comprehensive implementation of the NLTP covering all classes of livestock and value chains; 

 ii. The Federal Government should review the implementation elements of the NLTP with clear delineation of roles and responsibilities among key stakeholders as well as provision of adequate funding and resource mobilization for the programme all levels.

 iii. ACAN should partner with relevant stakeholders to consistently follow-up and track progress in the implementation of NLTP with a view to promoting performance and strengthening accountability among those responsible;

 iv. Media should shun sensational journalism and be more developmental in their reportage of NLTP and the livestock sector in order to effectively dispel misconceptions about livestock programmes and improve reportage of the sector to encourage increased investments;

 v. The FMARD in collaboration with key stakeholders should:

 a. Develop relevant strategies, particularly, Communication as well as Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategies, to support the NLTP as tools for advocacy, resilience building, and awareness creation among stakeholders; and

 b. Establish a coordination platform to promote greater synergy, interaction, collaboration and learning among all NLTP implementing stakeholders;

 vi. The Federal Government should revive/strengthen local governance structures, principles, approaches and natural resources management protocols for effectively resolving conflicts in support of the NLTP;

 vii. Federal Government should collaborate with State Governments to strengthen the Agro-Rangers through the provision of adequate training, logistics and funding to effectively address the security challenges

 viii. There should be greater engagement with the private sector on the huge economic potential of NLTP with the aim of attracting greater investment. This would require the development of NLTP Business Case(s) and strategic information as primary tools for engagement.