The Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday announced that it had kickstarted the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan and also disclosed that 20 governors had shown interest in the programme. They recently agreed to do a pilot phase of the program in four which would serve as a test run.
Punch reports the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Andrew Kwasari, who announced the commencement of the programme, said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had secured a €400,000 grant from the Netherlands for the initiative.
A statement issued in Abuja by the Communications Lead, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development-Project for Agricultural Development Planning, Sandra Affun, stated that Buhari secured the grant during his visit to Netherlands.
It stated that the government would implement the pilot projects in Nasarawa, Adamawa, Plateau and Gombe states, adding that the governors of 16 other states were interested in the programme.
Kwasari stated that a kick-off meeting for the implementation of the pilot phase of the livestock plan was held recently in Nasarawa State in the Office of the Deputy Governor, Emmanuel Akabe.
He said the pilot phase of the NLTP in Nasarawa State was being implemented at the Awe Grazing Reserves in the state.
According to him, the recent two-day trip by his team to Nasarawa was to ensure that the state livestock transformation team was fully aware of the requirements for successfully implementing the pilot programme.
“The pilot (programme) will serve as a proof of concept for the livestock sub-sector transformation process,” Kwasari stated.
On state governors interested in the programme, the FMARD-PACE outlined them to include the governors of Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Kano, Ondo and Katsina.
Others include Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Ekiti, Kogi, Ebonyi and Kwara.
In his response, the Nasarawa State deputy governor was quoted in the statement as saying, “We are quite enthusiastic about this programme starting in Nasarawa State.
“We feel it is a great honour that Nasarawa State was picked to pilot this project. We as a state have resolved not only to be in charge but also in control.”
Source: https://punchng.com/livestock-programme-begins-with-netherlands-e400000-funding-says-presidency/