Agribusiness Stakeholders Call for Livestock Ministry to Tackle Food Insecurity

Agribusiness stakeholders, including the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN), have called for the newly established Ministry of Livestock Development to address the pressing issue of food insecurity.

This move follows President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the ministry’s creation on July 9, 2024, during the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Livestock Reforms at the State House in Abuja.

Kola Aderibigbe, Chairman of the Agro-allied group at LCCI, described the ministry’s creation as a positive step, highlighting its potential to enhance the dairy farm industry and create new opportunities. However, he stressed the need for a clear strategy on how the ministry plans to tackle food insecurity. Aderibigbe noted that farmers continue to face security challenges that prevent them from fully utilizing their farmlands, expressing hope that the new ministry would enable farmers to return to their fields and boost food production.

Aderibigbe also raised concerns about the increased costs and potential confusion for integrated farmers who might need to deal with both the Livestock Development Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture. He emphasized the importance of specific solutions to the farmer-herder clashes that have hindered agricultural productivity, expressing disappointment over the lack of progress on the ranching option in the open-grazing debate. He urged the new government initiative to avoid politicization and prevent the conversion of private land for grazing.

Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar, President of CODARAN and CEO of L&Z Integrated Farms, supported the creation of the ministry, highlighting the limitations of addressing dairy farming needs within a department of the Ministry of Agriculture. He emphasized the vision of reducing Nigeria’s dependency on dairy imports, which amounted to $1.5 billion annually in 2023, according to the National Biotechnology Development Agency. Abubakar assured that poultry farmers’ interests were considered in the deliberations that led to the establishment of the Livestock Development Ministry.

Earlier, the Poultry Association of Nigeria reported that over 30 percent of poultry farms in Nigeria had shut down in the past six months due to high operational costs, contributing to the sharp rise in egg prices.