The Federal Government says it has started the process of animal
census, traceability and identification and explained that the
exercise will help in tackling issues of cattle rustling as well as help
get accurate data on livestock.
Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammed Bello Umar,
who disclosed this at the end of the Fourth Global Dairy Congress Africa
at the weekend in Abuja, assured participants of government’s
willingness to implement useful suggestions from the summit.
Represented
by the Director, Animal Husbandry Services, Bright Wategire, he said:
“We will continue to intervene in those areas that are important to us.
And, we will try as much as possible to improve on artificial
intelligence and sustain the issue of pasture production all year round.
It is a critical area because, without pasture, animals will
not grow. We have started something in animal identification and
traceability system. We are aware of the advanced stages that are
available.
“Aside helping us reduce issues of cattle
rustling, It will help us to get reliable data of animals that we have
in this country. It helps improve trade relationship with other
countries.“The advantages are enormous; we are at the tail end of
concluding our national dairy and breeding policy.”
Regardless,
Chairman of the congress, Dr. Ayok Celestine, and the participants,
unanimously urged government, to establish effective price stability
support mechanism to attract and protect investment in dairy farming
they and also, called for robust intervention in addressing
infrastructure deficits militating against the sub sector.
Dr.
Celestine suggested an upgrade of genetic potential of indigenous dairy
breeds through crossbreeding and selection in order to enhance
productivity and profitability of emerging dairy ventures in Africa.
He
insisted that livestock extension services and innovation platforms
should be mainstreamed to enhance farmers’ capacity and competence in
dairy production processing.
“The simulate functional systems in
other climes should be studied to speed up value chain progress and
profitability, while allied institutions to boost availability and
quality of support services and input should be strengthened.”
He
expressed concern over the lack of effective waste recycling systems in
African countries, and suggested refrain in the choice of dairy
packaging; to avoid potential environmental consequences.