The livestock sector in Nigeria has immense potential to drive economic growth, enhance food security and alleviate poverty. However, despite being a significant contributor to the country’s agricultural GDP, the sector has long suffered from underperformance due to systemic challenges of weak policy implementation due to bureaucratic inefficiencies and lack of political will.
Past livestock sector reform efforts were hindered by inconsistent policies and weak institutional frameworks. While there are various government initiatives aimed at boosting livestock production, these efforts are often fragmented and poorly coordinated. Policies frequently change with successive administrations, disrupting long-term planning and investment. Additionally, the lack of a cohesive national livestock development plan leads to duplications and inefficiencies.
The establishment of a dedicated Ministry of Livestock Development signals a focused effort to address the challenges facing the sector. However, specific issues related to pastoralists—who play a central role in Nigeria’s livestock industry—pose significant hurdles to the success of such initiatives.
Pastoralists primarily rely on open grazing systems, which require extensive land for their livestock. The increasing pressure on land due to urbanisation, agricultural expansion, and population growth has led to the encroachment of traditional grazing routes and reserves. This indicates that the traditional pastoral systems, where herders moved their cattle across regions in search of grazing land, are increasingly unsustainable as farmland expands and climate change reduces available pasture.
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Climate change has aggravated desertification and reduced the availability of grazing resources, pushing pastoralists to migrate southward in search of pastures. This migration often leads to clashes with farming communities and heightens regional tensions. Reform must therefore account for the environmental challenges pastoralists face, or it will fail to address the underlying vulnerabilities.
The long-standing conflicts between pastoralists and crop farmers that intensified in recent years, have resulted in violence, loss of lives, and displacement. The degeneration of these conflicts has resulted in insecurity where the pastoralists are both victims and, at times, accused perpetrators of insecurity, including cattle rustling and banditry.
Without addressing the root causes of these conflicts—such as competition for land and water resources, weak conflict resolution mechanisms, and ethnic tensions—any reform initiative will only struggle to gain acceptance or foster peaceful coexistence.
The inability of law enforcement agencies to curb these threats undermines investor confidence and discourages private sector participation in the livestock industry. Governance issues, such as the lack of accountability and transparency in resource allocation, further hinder efforts to address the sector’s challenges effectively.
The reform needs to address the security needs of pastoralists to foster their cooperation, as pastoralism is deeply rooted in the cultural and traditional practices of many communities, particularly among the Fulani. To them, policies aimed at transitioning to modern livestock management systems, such as ranching, may be perceived as undermining their heritage. Cognisance should, therefore, be taken of social and cultural factors so as not to impede the livestock sector reform.
Gender dynamics within the sector may also present a challenge, as women, who play a crucial role in small-scale livestock farming, often lack access to resources and decision-making opportunities.
Addressing these social and cultural barriers will be essential for achieving inclusive and sustainable reforms. Efforts should be made by the new Ministry to adopt the participatory approach towards evolving innovative interventions.
The livestock farmer is also contending with climate and environmental challenges. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns and desertification have reduced the availability of pasture and water. Prolonged droughts and shrinking water bodies are forcing pastoralists to migrate southward, increasing tensions with farming communities. Moreover, climate change worsens the spread of diseases that significantly reduce livestock productivity. The environmental impact of livestock farming, including overgrazing and deforestation, further compounds these challenges, making sustainable reform even more critical.
A significant hurdle to the livestock sector reform is inadequate infrastructure. The lack of modern slaughterhouses, cold storage facilities, and transportation networks is impeding the efficient processing and distribution of livestock products.
Most livestock farmers, especially in rural areas, operate in informal and underdeveloped markets, leading to significant post-harvest losses that reduce profitability and market competitiveness.
These are compounded by the industry’s limited access to finance and technology. Most livestock farmers in Nigeria operate at a subsistence level, with limited access to credit and modern technology. The lack of affordable financing options restricts farmers’ ability to invest in improved breeds, quality feed, veterinary care and value addition.
Furthermore, low literacy level among rural farmers has hindered their ability to adopt modern livestock management practices and technologies. The gap between research institutions and local farmers has limited the dissemination of innovations that could enhance productivity and has also remained minimal due to high costs and limited technical expertise.
But worse, Nigeria’s livestock sector is suffering from insufficient investment in research and development (R&D). Many research institutions lack the funding and infrastructure needed to conduct studies on feed production, breed improvement and disease management. Consequently, the sector relies heavily on outdated practices and technologies.
At the other end of the scale the livestock value chain in Nigeria is highly fragmented, with weak linkages between producers, processors, and marketers. This fragmentation limits economies of scale and reduces the competitiveness of Nigerian livestock products in both local and international markets. Informal market structures dominate the sector, characterised by poor hygiene standards and low-quality products. Furthermore, the lack of export-oriented policies and certification systems restricts Nigeria’s ability to tap into lucrative global markets for meat, dairy, poultry and leather products.
With care, the livestock sector in Nigeria has the potential to be a cornerstone of the nation’s agricultural transformation. However, achieving sustainable reform requires addressing the multifaceted challenges that hinder its growth through a holistic and multi-stakeholder approach in policy harmonisation, infrastructural development, stronger livestock extension services, implementation of climate-smart livestock production practices, increased funding in research and development, credit schemes with ease of access to finance, conflict resolution and promotion of dialogue with collaboration between farmers and herders, and market integration to strengthen value chains and increase competitiveness.
Ahmad wrote from FMA2 off Yaya (Petal) Abubakar Road, Fadamar Mada, Bauchi [email protected]
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