The newly announced Ministry of Livestock Development by President Bola Tinubu has attracted divergent views from the stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
In separate interviews with Daily Independent, some commended President Tinubu for creating the ministry and advising him to put the right peg in the right hole.
They advised that policies should be made to ensure that food security is attained and that the issues of herders and farmers clash be dealt with to enable farmers to return to their farms to produce enough food for people to eat.
Kabir Ibrahim, the National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), in his view, said that the take-off should go beyond the bureaucratic bottlenecks that impede the seamless implementation of policy and set out to develop a robust livestock industry that will take care of the nutritional security of the nation.
The president pointed out that the ministry should tackle the perennial farmer and herder conflict by encouraging the herders to be sedentary by creating ranches and re-establishing their grazing routes, and grazing reserves along with facilities for their welfare.
He advised the Federal Government to put in place a mechanism to improve the livestock sector generally, and also encourage the creation of processing plants for dairy, beef, and poultry and encourage the export of red meat among others.
Ibrahim further called for the creation of a monitoring and evaluation unit to make the ministry transparent and sustainable and ensure compliance with climate change mitigation programmes in generally.
He said that the private sector should be encouraged to form a partnership and collaboration platform, while adding that the creation of the ministry is a welcome development and livestock farmers are excited about it and keenly look forward to its take off.
Kola Aderibigbe, the Chairman, Agric and Agro Allied Group of Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), in his view, said that farmers wanted to see a plan of how the ministry would address the food insecurity, herder-farmers clash, and farm invasion in the country.
He said that creating the ministry by the president was a welcome idea.
“We are also concerned about the budget that will be set for this Ministry of Livestock Development. We hope it will not be another purpose vehicle to perpetuate corruption as usual.
“What about integrated farming? Some people integrate their crop farms with livestock. That means you will have to deal with two agencies or ministries, which will cause confusion and make certifications costly.
He noted that stakeholders are worried about the specifics of the solution the Ministry of Livestock Development would bring to the farmer-herders clashes that have prevented many farmers from optimally using their farmlands.
Aderibigbe, thereby queried how those cattle would be fed daily without invading farmers’ farms, bearing in mind that the nomadic are both from Nigeria and other West African countries invading without control.
“What will be the ministry control mechanisms to ameliorate and avert possible farmers-herder clashes that are very prominent for almost two decades?
He said farmers are unable to farm because of invasive approach and attacks.
“My farm and many other LCCI members are living witness to this abnormal situation causing serious hardship on Nigerians. Investment is being lost, with attacks on farm workers. Farmers have to provide private security to secure themselves, their investments, and workers whenever they visit their farms.
He pointed out that this was one of the major causes of food shortages and the high cost of food items that have gone beyond the reach of the common men, and the rich at large.
Wale Oyekoya, an agriculturist, said that the newly created Federal Ministry of Livestock is a welcome development if it’s going to tackle all the issues of insecurity arising from herders and farmers’ clashes.
He said insecurity in the country bred Insecurity in food production which has affected the whole country, leading the food inflation to rise to 40 percent, the highest so far since we entered into the democratic regime of 1999.
In his words, the president must realize that cattle are not the only animal in the livestock family as we have poultry, piggery, ram and goat, fishery, among others that are neglected. He wants all the six geopolitical zones to be carried along on this new ministry.
Sunday Ezeobiora, the National President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) said that the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock, though it looks like multiplicity and enlarging the already bloated cost of governance, is a welcome development.
He said that the new Ministry must, as a matter of urgency, set up a highly consultative conference to proffer and engage on short term to long term solutions to the myriad of problems facing the Livestock industry.
He added that if the right crops of technocrats are appointed to oversee the ministry, it will definitely tackle the herder and farmer crisis amongst other multiple issues of livestock development.
Ezeobiora said that the poultry industry is part of the livestock sector with the most commercialised value chain.
“It is my hope that the new ministry will pay greater attention to the practical solutions we had laid before the government and the ministry of agriculture which would have prevented the current near unavailability of grains in the country and worsened food security.
He added that developing ranching and grazing reserves, which is the modern way of cattle farming, is a key pathway to resolving the crisis.
Udeme Etuk, Managing Director, Chanan Elo’aIntegrated Farm Limited, said that what was needed was to put the right people in place and give them enough opportunities to carry out research and come up with solutions to the problems of the livestock industry.
He said that the government should be interested in the development of the cattle business, that the government should be able to make it easy for land to be bought, make it easy for equipment to come in, and also come up with extension services that will help in the development of the cow business.
He also said there was nowhere in the world that you would see open grazing, adding that the government needs to put its feet down and abolish open grazing.
“Modern day livestock business is ranching and so if the government does not stop open grazing everything we are doing even the ministry will be a waste of time. It is a political will that they need to be able to stop open grazing; ranching is the way to go.
According to him, “if they are ranched in the place where they are fed and properly taken care of, I can tell you comfortably that they will look better, the quality of beef will taste better, so that is what I expect the government to do, we don’t need a ministry to do that.
If the government does not have the political will to stop it, then even if you open the ministry 10 times, it would be a waste of time. “There is nowhere in the world that encourages open grazing. Everybody puts their cows in the ranch. If you don’t have a ranch, you cannot do the business.
Etuk, pointed out that he expected the government to look at research to see how it can accommodate the cows and they can improve the quality of our livestock. So, the issue of farmers and herders is a political decision.
He said that the government needs to look at tariffs and government need to protect the little ones who are running the business.
“If you look at the tariffs and the taxes on equipment, sometimes when the equipment arrives, customs refuses to distinguish between agricultural equipment and construction equipment and so they charge you the same tariff.
“Those are the things that I expect the government to look at. What assistance can they give to livestock farmers, even look at the cost of feed, maize, wheat, maize heifer, wheat heifer those are feeds these livestock eat.
Speaking further, he said livestock business is a private business, that putting money in a private business or government being interested in a private business, calls for concern.
He said government should not be interested in a private business, that government should be interested in developing the business so that the economy and the people will be developed.
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