The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has commenced the data bank profiling of its members for easier identification across the country. The development follows worries over persistent clashes between herders and farmers in several parts of the country.
Baba Othman Ngelzarma, the secretary of the association informed BusinessDay on the sideline of stakeholders Forum on Farmers/Herders Conflict that the profiling of pastoralists across the country would be in partnerships with two telecoms giants namely Globacom and MTN Nigeria.
This, he said, would ensure proper identification of pastoralists or members that portray the association in bad light.
Ngelzarma told BusinessDay that,”This is one of of initiatives for better identification of our members. We had already held a one day retreat with MTN in Kaduna on how to begin Cattle monitoring identification and inserting embedded ships into the cow for monitoring and identification of cows.”
He added,”We are also trying to engage Globacom for ways to register and capture our members through bio-metric. This would help us to separate the resident Pastoralists from those that come in and go out of the country,”
The group also plan to introduce customised phones for members to use. The goal is have their identity captured to enable MACBAN make clear distinctions of pastoralists, herdsmen that come in and go out from the country. the group has set a deadline of before the end of 2017 to achieve their target.
Furthermore, the group aims to empower members and assist them in growing their business by leveraging support from the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing system for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).
“NIRSAL is also collaborating with DFID on our behalf. We are working out a model on how we could give cattle fattening loan to members to sustain and expand their business,” Ngelzarma said.
A pilot programme is expected to commence very soon in Adamawa state.
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