President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, said Nigeria spend as much as N1.5b to import dairy products annually, as a result of the long neglect of the nation’s livestock economy.
The President revealed this while inaugurating the Livestock development plans ahead of the resumption of the Minister of the newly established Ministry of Livestock Development.
Recall that the Livestock development plan was initiated by the President, with the setting up of the Livestock Reforms Implementation Committee on July 19, 2024, shortly before the creation of a Ministry to supervise the sector.
The President who had earlier received a report from the implementation committee headed by Attahiru Jega, described the plan as “one of the most critical aspects of our nation’s development”, adding that “the livestock sector is very important. We are going to give it all it needs to bring value to our country”
“Stakeholders, I stand here assuring you that you will not regret the collaboration and the investment coming into this sector.
“It’s about time that we do it right, a country of over 200 million people cannot serve our children one pint of milk in the classroom per day.
“The long neglect has weighed on our country’s import, bill between 1.2 to 1.5 Bn is being spent to import dairy food and all of that.
Listing the potentials of the sector, President Tinubu put annual production of animal-source foods, like milk at 0.7 billion litres, meat at 1.48 million Tonnes and eggs at 0.69 million metric Tonnes, which falls far short of our needs. Our per capita consumption levels—8.7 litres of milk, 9 kg of meat, 3.5kg or 45 eggs per year—are troublingly low compared to global averages.
“These are 44 litres of milk, 19 kg of meat and between 160 and 180 eggs per year.
“What is more worrisome to me is the average milk yield by cow breeds managed by our pastoralists: it is a mere 0.5 to 1.5 litres per day, compared to a global average of 6.6 litres per day. We can do much better!
“The long-term neglect of the livestock sector has weighed heavily on the country’s import bills, with milk and dairy products accounting for $1.2-1.5 billion.
“Yes, we can do it. We can bring prosperity to our people. We can feed our children. From grass, we can achieve grace. We can contribute so much to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provide decent jobs,’’ the President noted.
Then what are we doing with our size of land? There is opportunity there we can see, and when I inaugurated the livestock committee, I didn’t see the path clearly until they started working.
“We didn’t see the investment opportunities, we didnt see the economy in the past, we now see it. We must work together to realise the dream. Let me congratulate the livestock reforms implementation committee”
The President said the aim is to transform the livestock from its current subsistence model into a thriving commercialise industry like other developing world.
“Yes we can do it, we can bring prosperity to our people. We can feed our children. From grass, we can achieve grace . We can contribute so much to the Nigeria GDP and provide decent jobs “
He commended the Kwara state Governor for the assurance of C of O and strong support for the initiative, even as he charged Niger state on the need to drive more investment into the state.
“There’s no excuse, that size of land in Niger State, you can accommodate many investments. We didn’t see the cold room investment, we didn’t see that opportunity before now but it’s coming. We are going to give it all it takes. I assure you we will succeed together.
“We will create the environment where the business will thrive. It is our duty to our children and future generations to get this right. Let’s unite in our effort. From reform to the realisation of our dream, I stand before you fully committed to this.
He assured that Investors, including Foreign investors, are already asking questions on how they will collaborate, adding that “ the committee and I will do everything possible to attract them. We can create a vivid picture of the future we want to see. The future of our country . The economic opportunity for our children.”
Attahiru Jega, Co-Chairman, of the Presidential Livestock Development Committee, in his opening remarks, said the President has assured of the success by insulating investors from partisan considerations, to get the buy-in of states and local governments, the key stakeholders in the livestock value-chain, traditional and community leaders, as well as the development partners.
He noted that unlocking the potential in the long-neglected livestock sector across its value chain and reforming and improving its entire ecosystem, would be immensely beneficial to virtually everybody.
Jega, while harping on the new business opportunities, coming 8n into the sector, also noted that it will contribute to employment generation and incomes, especially for our teaming youths, contribute food and nutrition security, and remarkable value addition to our country’s GDP.
“Significantly, reforming the sector would also help to mitigate the perennial conflicts between farmers and herders, which have bedevilled the sector, with negative consequences of community relations and beneficial productive activities.
“The objective is to, within the two- is day period of the Workshop, obtain both the additional input to the reform process and buy-in, from a range of critical stakeholders drawn from the Nigerian Livestock value-chain and ecosystem.
“Obviously, in a country as vast as Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million, there are many more stakeholders who ought to be here, but who regrettably are not here, for many unavoidable reasons. Our hope is that engagement with critical stakeholders would be a continuous process, as all hands need to be on deck to ensure a well-considered reform process and its seamless and successful implementation.”
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