President Bola Tinubu’s livestock reform committee has submitted its report, proposing a dual approach to end the longstanding farmers-herders crisis in Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that the committee, chaired by Tinubu and co-chaired by former INEC chairman Attahiru Jega, recommends combining open grazing and ranching to address the issue.
Jega emphasised that a combination of both methods is necessary, as abruptly transitioning to ranching alone would be impractical.
“You cannot wake up tomorrow, and all you have is ranching because you have already had quite a large chunk of the population in traditional pastoral activities,” he stated.
The committee’s proposal aims to promote peaceful coexistence between herders and farmers, while also increasing awareness against the extensive nature of pastoralism. Jega noted that the objective is to have intensive livestock production, rather than extensive pastoralism.
The report also recommends creating a federal ministry of livestock development. This move is part of the 21 recommendations made by the national conference on livestock reforms and mitigation of associated conflicts in Nigeria
