17th October, 2019
Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State says the Federal Government livestock transformation plan is in the interest of the farmers, herders, and consumers in the country.
Akeredolu, who was represented by his Deputy, Hon. Agboola Ajayi said this during the visit of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) team to the governor in Akure.
The team was led by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Agriculture, Dr. Andrew Kwasari.
“The step of the Federal Government on the national livestock transformation plan is in the right direction as it will tackle the myriads of challenges facing the people in the country. And Ondo state government will always continue to support the effort of the Federal Government to transform the lives of the people of the country” he said.
“Some of the steps taken by the Akeredolu’s administration included the disbursement of N200 million loan to poultry farmers and the establishment of 500,000 eggs /day processing plant.
“State Pig Village is in the offing while the state government has developed the homestead cattle rearing arrangement,” he added.
Akeredolu, who constituted a 12-man committee led by Mr. Akin Olotu, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture for the implementation of the NLTP in the state, said it was to checkmate the incessant clashes between the herdsmen and farmers in the state.
The governor justified the total ban on the importation of food items into the country by the Federal Government, saying this would boost food production and increase the earning of farmers.
Kwasari, leader of the team, noted that the Federal Government had put in place a 10-year livestock transformation plan with two options of pastoral pilot scheme mostly subscribed to by states in the North and the ranching option, which Ondo state had signified willingness to join.
According to him, the plan aims to address incessant farmers/herder clashes as it will bring about transformation by gradually introducing pastoral on better ways ranching. He said that the mission of his team in the state was to train the committee set up by the state government on how to drive the programme in the state.
Olotu, who is the Chairman of the Committee, said the Southwest Geo-political Zone consumes N1.5 billion worth of cows daily with the state eating a substantial part of the meat. He said the state government would increase the production of meat and milk locally to check capital flight and create employment.