Ministry of Animal Husbandry – great move, but…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed suggestions that the establishment of a commission or government ministry to deal with the livestock sector would give herders a sense of inclusion in government agricultural policies and reduce the incessant conflicts between farmers and herders.

On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, he inaugurated what he christened the “Renewed Hope Livestock Reform Implementation Committee,” an apparent precursor to the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock Development. At the inauguration of the committee, which is chaired by the President and co-chaired by Professor Attahiru Jega, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu expressed confidence that the move would bring peace to the country.

He said: “We saw a solution and an opportunity. In the face of this adversity that has plagued us for years, I believe that prosperity is here – in your hands. This sector will increase agricultural productivity, expand export opportunities and stimulate economic growth by supporting a robust value chain that benefits farmers, processors, herders, distributors and consumers.”

The creation of a ministry dedicated to animal husbandry would not be a new step in dealing with the ongoing conflicts between farmers and herders. In 2016, when Chief Audu Ogbeh was the minister of agriculture, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, a policy called the National Ranching Policy was introduced. Under the policy, state governments were required to provide land for cattle ranching, which was interpreted as the creation of “cattle colonies” across Nigeria. Violent resistance to the policy prevented the government from continuing to implement it. Furthermore, in 2019, the Buhari government came up with the idea of ​​Village Grazing Areas (RUGA), which also faced opposition. It later came with the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), which was adopted by some state governments.

To make a difference, the government must thoroughly implement measures that will increase livestock production in the country, not just those that end conflicts between herders and farmers. Such measures must go beyond focusing on cattle breeding, as statistics show that other livestock require the same attention as cattle.

Data from 2017 shows the distribution of livestock production in Nigeria to be over 80 million poultry birds, 76 million goats, 43.4 million sheep, 18.4 million cattle, 7.5 million pigs and 1.4 million equines (horses and donkeys). This shows that government measures need to be comprehensive so that those involved in livestock farming activities can continue as they all contribute to the economy.

At this initial stage, the government needs to develop measures that will foster dialogue and understanding between stakeholders in the sector, especially local communities, pastoralists, farmers, environmental groups and regional government bodies. In this way, the ministry will not suffer from the stillbirths that have befallen other such measures.

Essentially, there is a need to collect data for decision-making. The data should answer questions such as: who are the owners of the supposed 18.4 million cattle in Nigeria? How can they be tamed to reduce the number of conflicts between herders and farmers? In which states are the rangeland reserves located across the country? What has happened to them? What are the production statistics in the sector? What kind of assistance do operators in the sector need to improve productivity?

There is a widespread belief that Nigeria’s livestock sector is centuries behind current practices in countries that take the sector seriously. To address this situation, the government must leverage new technologies, especially those generated by local research institutes, to increase the quantity and quality of livestock production. For example, despite the ongoing bloodshed over cattle grazing in Nigeria, the country is not among the world’s top ten livestock producers. In Africa, in 2022, Nigeria ranked sixth in terms of cattle production, producing 20.91 million head, less than a third of Ethiopia’s 67.96 million.

Any policy measures must be such that they provide incentives for the adoption of new innovations, which would encourage private capital investment. Where government policies are implemented without deep thought, they create problems for several sectors. For example, the devaluation of the naira in 1986 under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) caused huge damage to the livestock sector as input costs went beyond the reach of farmers and the government did not intervene.

As Tinubu plans to revive the sector, he must consider how government decisions will affect local farmers. We support measures that must have a positive, not negative, impact on peasant farmers.