Experts say gaps in innovation in Nigeria’s agriculture sector are hurting livestock development, leading to revenue and job losses.
The experts, who spoke at the just concluded Agra Innovate West Africa conference on agriculture, noted that the livestock subsector is yet to receive appropriate recognition and most of the technologies in the sector are obsolete.
“We must be innovative in implementation and execution of agricultural programs, projects and activities,” said Tope Damola, chairman, Shonga Farms.
“This is why we cannot track our animals. We should turn the animal tracking to an industry,” Damola said.
Different papers presented during the session by stakeholders stressed that the renewed calls for a return to agriculture by Nigerians should not mean a descent to primitive agriculture that was not technology driven.
An example of primitive agriculture, according to the stakeholders, is the movement of cattle and sheep through bushes, a practice that destroys crop farms and creates conflicts between herdsmen and farmers.
They say innovation and technology-driven agriculture should be for an improved productivity through a more accessible veterinary services, better nutrition and modern husbandry.
Also speaking during the session, Olukayode Oyeleye, special adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said “Our slow development in the livestock industry is a consequence of absence of innovation.”
Live stock production grew by 0.76 percent in Q3 2016 from 6.32percent in Q2 2016 and 5.50 percent in Q3 2015, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) states in its Gross Domestic Q3 report.
According to the stakeholders, government should provide necessary infrastructure and update the data on livestock production in the country, stating that inability to do these have hindered the tracking of cattle.
They call on the government to conduct census on livestock as this would aid the growth of the industry and the agricultural sector at large.
“We should turn animal tracking into an industry. The infrastructure in the livestock industry is still very poor. Tracking animals also is a form of security,” Damola said.
In response to stakeholders call for innovation and improvement of data processes, Oyeleye assured the farmers that the government is currently working towards updating the data in the subsector and addressing issues around cattle hustling.
He stated that the government will soon re-establish breeding centres. “We are going to re-establish the breeding centres across the country,” he said.
“Data on investment is not exactly known. Deaths, births, losses to thefts, diseases distribution patterns and feeding sustainably rely on guesswork but we are working to correct all these,” he added.
Josephine Okojie
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
