Introduction
On Saturday, March 20, 2021, Samuel Ioraer Ortom, politician, farmer, former Minister of State for Trade and Investment, and now Governor of Benue escaped death by whiskers when assailants suspected to be herders waylaid him on his way back from his farm. According to Ortom, about 15 herders who were dressed in black outfits ambushed him and his security personnel. In his words “…. I went to my farm along Gboko road. And, on our way back, we started hearing some gunshots and we discovered people who were dressed in black, and from experience, we now discovered that these are Fulani militias and I did not want to take things for granted because, few days ago, the media were awash with statements from MACBAN who met in Yola, the same place they met in 2016 where they decided that they will take Nigeria, and that every other person is a slave; that was when they started infiltrating the entire country”.
What’s new? In 2019, Nigerian authorities launched a ten-year National Livestock Transformation Plan to curtail the movement of cattle, boost livestock production and quell the country’s lethal herder-farmer conflict. But inadequate political leadership, delays, funding uncertainties and a lack of expertise could derail the project. COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges.
Why did it happen? Violence fuelled by environmental degradation and competition over land has aggravated long-running tensions in the country’s northern and central regions. A surge in bloodshed in 2018 prompted Nigeria’s federal government to formulate a far-reaching set of reforms for the livestock sector.
Why does it matter? The new Plan represents Nigeria’s most comprehensive strategy yet to encourage pastoralists to switch to ranching and other sedentary livestock production systems. Modernising the livestock sector is key to resolving the herder-farmer conflict, which threatens Nigeria’s
Grazing
As the country continues to witness widespread conflict between farmers and herders, which has gradually snowballed into criminality, stakeholders in the livestock sector have highlighted the need to transform all the gazetted grazing reserves in the country into ranches.
The Nigeria Livestock industry is worth over N30tr, stakeholders are of the opinion that if the 25 million cows in the country are well managed, it could become a top foreign exchange earner for the country, enhance food nutrition and security, increase employment and wealth creation, as well as increase the social stability of the owners.
According to them, cows remain important asset in the country, but the industry is plagued with series of challenges threatening its sustainability.
James Emejo in Abuja
Following a €400,000 funding support from the Netherlands, the federal government has commenced talks with the Nasarawa State government for the kick-off of the pilot implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).
The plan, which includes the establishment of grazing reserves across the country is seen as panacea to the current farmer-herder conflicts in the country.
The implementation will also help the country maximise opportunities in the country’s over N30 trillion assets in livestock which had been neglected over the years.
The Special Adviser to the President on Agriculture, Dr. Andrew Kwasari, who met with key state officials in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital recently, said it was important for the state to understand the requirements for the establishment of the Awe Grazing Reserve billed to be located in state as pilot project.
TODAY
February 24, 2021
The Federal Government, yesterday announced securing €400,000 grant to kick off National Livestock Transformation Plan, NLTP, in four states.
In a statement by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Project for Agricultural Coordination and Planning, PACE, President Muhammadu Buhari, secured the grant from the Dutch Investment Agency, RVO, after approval of the grant, which Buhari signed an Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, during his visit to the Netherlands.
The states for the NLTP include Nasarawa, Adamawa, Plateau and Gombe.
The statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Dr Andrew Kwasari who was accompanied by members of the FMARD-PACE Team, on a two-day visit to the Nasarawa State Livestock Transformation Office to ensure that the State Livestock Transformation team was fully aware of the requirements for successful implementation of the pilot, said the €400,000 covered 50 per cent cost o