The federal government and Netherlands have launched a 22,000-hectare model ranching project under the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
Speaking at the launch, President Muhammadu Buhari said the programme would be replicated in other states that are interested.
Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammad Nanono, said the programme was to ensure that herders stayed in a particular place rather than moving around in the nomadic way of rearing livestock.
He said, “I am optimistic that the programme would succeed at the end of the day thereby reducing the increasing farmers and herders’ crisis and other criminalities in the country.”
The Ambassador of Netherlands to Nigeria, Harry Van Dijk, said the process of building ranches in the country began in 2018 when President Muhammadu Buhari visited his country and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop ranches in Nigeria.
He assured of his country’s commitment to deliver on the agreement reached with the Nigerian government.
Earlier, Governor of Nasarawa State Abdullahi Sule said the state keyed into the initiative of the federal government to address the security problems associated with open grazing.
The governor added that the programme would go a long way in tackling the lingering crisis in Nasarawa/Benue borders.
Speaking on behalf of the herders, Acting Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria in the state, Bala Dabo, expressed gratitude to the president and the state government for making the project a reality.
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