By Felicia Imohimi
The Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) says it has completed the construction of nine boreholes and rehabilitated three slaughter facilities in Adamawa for improved livestock productivity and commercialisation.
L-PRES is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMFS) and the World Bank.
Mr Sanusi Abubakar, National Project Coordinator, L-PRES, announced this at a Media Workshop organised by L-PRES in Abuja.
Abubakar said L-PRES was unveiled with a clear mission to improve livestock productivity, commercialisation and resilience across the country.
The national project coordinator said livestock sector played a vital role in the nation’s economy and food security.
He, however, said that the sector faced several challenges, such as climate change, level of value addition, market access, poor services, absence of supporting infrastructure, disease and conflicts between herders and farmers.
“To address these issues, L-PRES is built on an integrated approach to support the resilience and growth of livestock systems.
“The project represents a bold vision for the future of livestock farming in Nigeria.
“It is a comprehensive, multi-faceted project aimed at enhancing productivity, addressing challenges and ensuring that our livestock sector contributes to national food security and economic development.’’
Giving an overview of the progress so far, he said the project had trained veterinarians, community livestock service providers and extension workers on conflict mitigation, animal health and other critical areas.
According to him, no fewer than 223,097 beneficiaries have been profiled in 17 states, ensuring that the interventions are reaching the right farmers and livestock producers.
“On conflict mitigation, committees have been established at state level to prevent and manage conflicts between herders and farmers, helping to maintain peace and ensure sustainable livestock farming.
“We are piloting sustainable dairy production in a number of states and have made progress with the National Livestock Master Plan (N-LMP) and related policies on dairy, feed and breeding.’’
Abubakar identified other on-going projects and initiatives to include Livestock Service Centres, Geospatial Mapping of Natural Resources, Livestock Value Chain Hub and Community Small Ruminants Holding Pens.
“L-PRES, running from 2022 to 2028, is funded with a loan of 500 million dollars granted in 2021 and complemented by 46 million dollars counterpart funding over six years.
“The funding is being deployed to improve various aspects of the livestock value chain and is implemented through a Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) at the state level, with the National Coordination Office (NCO) providing technical support and guidance.’’
He listed the project components as supporting livestock policy formulation, enhancing training programmes, improving infrastructure, developing regulatory frameworks, supporting and strengthening innovation in the sector.
“Other components are animal husbandry and advisory support services, livestock value chain enhancement, enhancing market linkages and ensuring that farmers can commercialise their livestock products more efficiently.
“Another key component is crisis prevention and conflict mitigation between farmers and herders,” he said.
Mr Wasiu Adeoye, Technical Operations Manager, L-PRES, said the project jointly supported by the Federal Government and World Bank, had the primary objective of enhancing the productivity and commercialisation of selected livestock value chains across the country.
According to him, the project aims to build resilience within the sector with special focus on mitigating the challenges posed by suboptimal management of natural resources.
NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA