Livestock

Igbaja (Kwara), Dec. 15, 2023: Mr Olusoji Oyawoye, the Kwara Project Coordinator of Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), says the project will reduce recurrent herders and farmers conflicts in Nigeria.

Oyawoye stated this on Thursday in Igbaja, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara, during a sensitisation campaign to traditional rulers in the area.

He said the exercise is ongoing across the state on the objectives and in a bid for continuous drive to ensure a smooth implementation of the project.

The project coordinator opined that apart from minimising herders-farmers conflicts, it would also minimise rural-urban migration by creating job opportunities for the people in the livestock value chain.

“This is expected to provide windows of opportunities for market linkage as well as creating business opportunities for both direct and indirect investors in the state,” he said.

Oyawoye, who appreciated the traditional leaders for their dedication and commitment to the development of the state, solicited more support for the successful implementation of the project and others in their respective communities.

Responding on behalf of the council, Oba Ahmed Arepo II, who also double as the Chairman, Ifelodun Traditional Council, appreciated the administrations of President Bola Tinubu and Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for the laudable project.

He assured that the traditional rulers under his leadership, would give the necessary support for the success of the project in the area.

In his contribution, the Olupako of Share, Oba Haruna Adegbite, who highlighted some of the impacts the project tend to make in the livestock sector of the country, urging the traditional rulers at the meeting to give the project the needed support.

The State Project Coordinator, KSADP, Ibrahim Muhammad, said this at KSADP/SAA Media Field Day exercise in Kano on Monday.

He said that the project was funded by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihood Funds, which aims to enhance livestock health and improve livelihoods of herders and livestock breeders.

“The project is determined to upscale the vaccination because livestock health is tied to the herders livelihoods and by extension our economy”, the Coordinator stressed.

According to him, KSADP has embarked on several projects like upgrading and equipping of Artificial Insemination Centres, construction of milk collection centres.

Others are, upgrade of cattle markets and crop residue utilization program, among others, to improve the livelihood of the herders.

Earlier, the Project coordinator, KSADP-SASAKAWA Africa Association Nigeria, (SAA), Abdulrashid Kofar-Mata, said the programme was a five-year programme which focuses on improving crop production and enhancing livestock productivity in the state.

“The Executing Agency of the programme is the Kano State Agriculture and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA).

“The overall objective of  KSADP is to contribute to reducing poverty and strengthening food and nutrition security in the state by developing agro pastoral production systems (production, processing, and retailing).

“SASAKAWA is a technical partner under the KSADP providing technical support to the government’s extension efforts of enhancing agricultural productivity and competitiveness through Increased access to inputs Value addition Extension services,” he said.

He disclosed that the media field was organized to showcase the activities of project implementation in the last one year and to measure successes and impact made so far.

Kofar-Mata explained that the event enables selected media outfits to interact with the beneficiaries on the field to share experiences.

Lagos, Aug. 13, 2023: The Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) has  charged livestock farmers to take  agricultural insurance cover as mitigation against the effects of anthrax disease.

NAIC’s Managing Director, Mrs Folashade Joseph, in a statement made available on Saturday in Lagos, said that its insurance products also covered other emerging risks in the agricultural value chain.

Joseph, expressed concerned on the outbreak of the anthrax disease, its negative effects on the income of the livestock farmers and the risk to fellow

Nigerians who might unknowingly be affected.

She sympathised with  livestock farmers adversely affected by the reported case of the disease in the country.

According to her, the provision of insurance solutions for agricultural hazards, was one of the major mandate of the corporation, which is fully owned by the Federal Government.

The managing director also drew the attention of the farming communities and entrepreneurs to the  impending floods across the country and the need to adhere to best practices in addressing it.

“These include taking NAIC’s agricultural insurance cover which is guaranteed to plough those who suffer losses back to prosperity,” she said.

Katsina, June 19, 2023: The Nigerian Society for Animal Production (NSAP) expresses belief that improving livestock production can rescue economy of the country and put it on the path of growth.

The NSAP President, Prof. Francis Abeke, made the assertion  at the opening ceremony of the 48th Annual Conference and Golden Jubilee  of the society on Monday in Katsina.

The event was organised by NSAP in collaboration with the Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA), Katsina State.

The 2023 NSAP conference and golden jubilee was tagged,  “Animal Agriculture: A Sustainable Path to Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Food Security”.

According to him, a nation that has the vision to grow must be food secure, adding that, “Hunger breeds anger, and a major index of development is how much food the people have.

“Today, Nigeria is not food secured and many anti- social upheavals experienced in the country may be linked to hunger and starvation.

“Dear participants, food, especially animal protein food is fast disappearing from our tables, resulting in poor mental and physical development of many Nigerians.

“It is my candid opinion that if there is a time to redouble our efforts and channel our energies and resources to improve livestock production, with a view to accelerating the growth of the economy, it is now.

“Some challenges facing increased livestock production in Nigeria include low level of technical inputs, poor production and bio-secure environment leading to substandard products, and few modern processing facilities.

“Also, poor nutrition, social conflicts, low productivity of our indigenous animals, poor capacity utilisation, low investment as well as high production cost among others,” he said.

He explained that the conference shall come out with workable solutions to these teething challenges and forge a way forward.

To achieve their common goal of improved livestock production and food security and for export, Abeke called on all and sundry to work hard and be dedicated to revamping the subsector of the economy.

“We should tap into the livestock production capacity of the states, especially Katsina state, a veritable state with one of the highest livestock populations in Nigeria.

“I further call on government at all levels to resuscitate this overlooked and abandoned cornerstone because, doing so shall save us, the economy and the next generation,” he said.

Earlier in his welcome address, the FUDMA Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, said Katsina State  was one of the largest producers of livestock, especially the ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goat in Nigeria.

According to him, this has contributed immensely to the economy of the state and Nigeria.

“The management of the University has placed so much premium on Agriculture from inception with special emphasis on Animal production.

“The Department of Animal Science is one of the most viable Departments in the University with a well-equipped laboratory and standard Livestock Farm,” he said.

In his remarks, the Governor of the state, Malam Dikko Radda, represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Alhaji Mukhtar Saulawa, expressed his administration’s commitment to agriculture.

According to him, during the campaign, one of the areas he promised to focus on was agriculture, adding that since his inauguration on May 29, he has visited about three agricultural sites in the state.

The Federal Government will integrate the livestock value chain on sustainable pasture production into the International Fund for Agricultural Development Programme (IFAD), 2024 – 2029 Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP).

Dr Ernest Umakhihe, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), gave the assurance on Thursday, at the 2nd Nigeria-lFAD COSOP 2024-2029 Stakeholders Workshop in Abuja.

Umakhihe said this would ensure sustainable planting of fodder crops, to increase livestock feed and reduce environmental degradation.

He said the ministry had agreed to integrate and broaden the value chain to include fish for nutrition enhancement and income generation in farming households, and specific nutrition sensitive interventions.

He said it would also consider interventions on post-harvest handling to curb food losses.

“The ministry has agreed to integrate into the new COSOP formulation the promotion of affordable and simple tools under mechanisation for smallholder farmers, for increased production and interventions of waste to wealth with business potentials.

“We will ensure greater gender representation to leverage on their experiences in the new programme.

“We will also leverage on current actions on climate change adaption to opportunities for climate financing and reduction of green gas emissions, with other pertinent issues militating against agricultural development in the country,” he said.

The permanent secretary commended the Federal Government and IFAD for COSOP formation process.

He said the document would build the agribusiness economy of the country, empower smallholder farmers to earn better income and ensure sustainable food security for national development.

Mrs Dede Ekoue, Country Director, IFAD Country Office, Nigeria, said the COSOP 2024 – 2029 was the commitment of the Federal Government and IFAD, towards addressing emerging constraints in the agricultural sector.

Ekuoe said the aim was to increase the productivity of smallholder farmers in the food supply chain, for food security and sustainable development.

She described COSOP as a framework for making strategic choices about IFAD operations in the country, identifying opportunities for IFAD financing and facilitating management for results.

Ekoue, who said the current Nigeria COSOP 2016 to 2023 would end in December, added that the 2024 – 2029 COSOP was expected to be presented to the IFAD Executive Board for approval.

She said the goals and strategic objectives included promoting inclusive and resilient growth for rural economy, through market driven, innovative and smallholder centered agri-food system transformation.

Ekoue said the workshop was planned to share the advanced vision of IFAD country COSOP, for further consideration and integration of inputs into design processes.

She said the workshop was also to share and discuss key take-aways for COSOP consultations, key conclusions and implications of multi-stakeholder strategic dialogues on scaling up Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), for the empowerment of smallholder farmers.

“The aim of the workshop is to share potential entry points for next COSOP, consider national priorities and achievements of Nigeria-IFAD cooperation and IFAD comparative advantage.

“It is also to exchange key lessons, scale up investments and partnerships by key stakeholders in agri-food systems in support of smallholder farmers, including youths, women and Persons Living With Disabilities.”

The Federal Government on Tuesday, distributed animal food (feed) ingredients to livestock farmers and feed millers in the FCT.

Speaking during the distribution of the items in Abuja, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said nutrition animal feeds were essential for development and productivity of animals, and food animals.

” In Nigeria, animal feed remains a challenge to animal husbandry practices, largely due to high cost of animal feeds, which are not readily available and where they are, they are not easily affordable by an average farmer,” he said.

Umakhihe, was represented by Mrs Winnie Lai- Solarin, Director, Animal Husbandry Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He said it was gratifying to know that the contribution of Livestock sub-sector to the economy goes beyond the production of meat, milk and eggs.

”The livestock sub-sector supports over 1 billion people globally accounting for over 40 per cent of global agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and provides over 33 per cent of the world’s protein intake.

He said the event was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration agenda to leverage on the Agricultural sector for wealth creation, employment generation and diversification of the economy.

In an address, Lai- Solarin  said that the ministry of Agriculture was determined to support the famers and livestock famers to improve their production process to achieve feed and food security.

” It is an established fact that feed constitutes about 70 per cent of the cost of livestock production.

” Therefore,  subsidizing the cost of feed production will not only increase the farmers’ profit but also sustain their interest,” she said.

Lai- Solarin, who was represented by Mrs Florence Hamed, Chief Health and Animal Husbandry Tech, said Silage making and utilization was  one of such knowledge that could make a difference.

Speaking on the sideline of the event, a beneficiary,   Mr Eimoga Francis, Ampersand Farms, said the event was timely as it would address the challenge of animal feed in animal husbandry practices.

The reports that the feed ingredients included, cereal grains, Maize, Salt, Groundnut, milling by- products, among other raw materials.

The Federal Government has said that Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) was  responsible for the loss of more than N29 billion  annually in the livestock sub-sector in Nigeria.

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo stated this at the unveiling and inauguration of the National Strategic Documents for the Control of trans-boundary animal diseases in Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

Osinbajo was represented by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.

He said the losses were through mortality, morbidity and trade restrictions on Nigeria occasioned by the endemicity of some of these diseases in the country.

“As we may be aware, Trans-boundary animal diseases are one of the most economically devastating diseases of livestock in the West and Central Africa sub- region.

“Through mortality, morbidity and trade restrictions on Nigeria occasioned by the endemicity of some of these diseases in the country,” he said.

He said that the federal government recognised the key role the livestock industry plays in the provision of livelihoods for millions of Nigerians.

Osinbajo said that intensive surveillance, epidemiology and response were being carried out in all the hotspot areas to keep check the rising profile of the diseases.

He said that the initiative was in collaboration with the State Veterinary Services, particularly in frontline States located at the fringes of international borders.

Osinbajo said that mass vaccinations against these devastating diseases are carried out annually for millions of cattle, sheep, dogs, goats among others,

“Veterinarians, clinicians, animal health service providers and other important stakeholders required a roadmap that will guide them properly to eradication the diseases,” he said.

He said that the validation of the strategic documents had received wider stakeholder inputs and contributions from experts and key players.

” It is  our utmost desire to see to the smooth implementation and operation of these strategies to ensure realization of the objectives they are meant to serve,” he said.

In his remarks, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar said that TADs is national issue that has no respect for borders.

He said there was the need to maximise the production and productivity of the livestock which is being threatened by the menace of endemic.

Abubakar said livestock is also threatened by emerging and re-emerging TADs, inadequate veterinary infrastructure and limited veterinary services.

He said it was against this backdrop that the ministry and relevant stakeholders developed and validated  National Strategic plans for the control and eradication of major TADs.

The minister listed the TADs as: Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), African Trypanosomosis & Tick Borne Diseases and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in cattle;

Others are Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in sheep and goats, African Swine Fever (ASF) in pigs and Newcastle disease (NCD) in chickens among others.