ARDS mulls 10-year livestock dev’t plan for FCT

By Stanley Onyekwere

The Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has disclosed the engagement of a team of experts on animal husbandry to develop a 10-year Livestock development plan for the Territory.

ARDS explained that the plan, which is currently undergoing validation, was designed to set a framework for all development activities in the livestock sector to realize the expected potential of food and nutrition security.

Making this disclosure yesterday, during the Secretariat’s end of year media briefing, the Mandate Secretary for ARDS, Malam Abubakar Ibrahim, said the plan would also enhance revenue inflow for the FCT and the country at large.

Ibrahim revealed that over 2,000 livestock farmers and dealers have been profiled, sensitised and trained across the six area councils on organic poultry farming, proper hygiene practices in farming and formulation of cheap poultry feeds for small-holder farmers.

He added that animal husbandry officers were also undergoing vigorous training in relevant areas for planning and implementation of key livestock development projects in the FCT.

According to him: “There is an overwhelming belief that with the right support by government, the livestock sector can become a leading source of foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria.

“It is in line with this that the FCT Administration increased funding for the provision of infrastructure and the required services to develop capacity of livestock farmers and provide the right environment that will attract investment and develop the sector.

“The partnership with Nestle Food Nig. Plc. has resulted in the upgrade of the Milk Collection and Chilling Centres at the Paikon-Kore reserve and a remarkable increase in training and empowerment of Milk producers in the reserve and surrounding areas.

“These interventions has significantly boosted milk production and bulking to cover 2,000 litres per day as against 100 to 200 litres daily.

“This partnership has definitely added value in terms of income and improved quality of livelihood for the milk producers and other service providers in the community,” he said.

However, the Secretary revealed that the secretariat was not back-tracking on its planned clampdown on unregistered veterinary service centres within the Territory.

According to him, the clampdown is will uproot all quacks that have variously contributed to jeopardising the development of livestock sector.

Ibrahim also disclosed that the secretariat of the 13-man committee earlier constituted by the secretariat to review all veterinary practice in Abuja, had completed its work.

He explained that in a matter of days, the enforcement team would be deployed to shut down all unregistered veterinary facilities.

He adds: “The committee is set to begin enforcement from Dec. 15, and it is mandated to close down facilities that are unregistered and failed to comply with regulatory guidelines.”