The Federal Government has attributed the inability to adopt modern livestock farming to limited availability and quality of animal feed in Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (), and the Sahel region.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, Nigeria, Dr. Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi, who spoke at the opening of the regional high-level workshop on developing the animal feed industry in West Africa and the Sahel, stated that this situation has increased the vulnerability of livestock farmers and reduced the affected countries’ ability to meet the growing demand for food products.

Akujobi lamented that, despite West Africa and the Sahel having significant potential in terms of animal production, pastoral areas, diverse livestock, and the ancestral knowledge of livestock farmers, these assets could not be effectively utilised for food security, poverty reduction, and economic development due to ongoing challenges.

Other factors, she said, include lack of industrial infrastructure, dependence on imported inputs, climate variability and insufficient regional coordination, which have limited the competitiveness of the livestock sector.

“This workshop, therefore, is timely as it aims to promote dialogue among public and private actors. It also provides us with the opportunity and platform to share successful experiences and identify tools for developing a genuine regional animal feed industry.

“As a country, Nigeria’s animal feed production policy is perfectly aligned with the current dynamic and is indeed amplified as a major focus in the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NLGAS), which is Nigeria’s livestock strategy plan for the year 2025 to the year 2035.

“We believe that a strong local and regional animal feed industry will not only create jobs, it will also reduce dependence on imports and above all, strengthen food sovereignty in our region

“The Perm Sec hoped that the outcome of the workshop will lay the foundation for a West African strategy based on promoting local resources through agricultural by-products”, she said.

Earlier, the Executive Director, Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (ARAA), Konlani Kanfitin, said the two-day workshop was designed to foster dialogue, innovation and policy harmonisation in West Africa’s agricultural sector.

“They also aim to transform evidence and research results generated under the research and innovation project on Productive, Resilient and Healthy Agro-pastoral Systems in West Africa (PRISMA) programme into concrete regional priorities that support food security, private sector participation and sustainable agricultural transformation.”

Noting that the livestock sector occupies a central place in the economies member states, he decried that its development is constrained by numerous challenges.

He feared that without a structured and efficient sector, it will be difficult to sustainably modernize livestock production or meet the growing demand for animal products.

“Yet, our region has abundant and varied resources, including agricultural by-products, agro-industrial co-products, fodder crops, enterprising and innovative youth.

“This potential must be fully harnessed to build a genuine regional animal feed industry that is competitive, sustainable and job-creating.

“This workshop therefore represents a key moment for reflection and collective action to make real ECOWAS’s commitment through its Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) and its projects and programs in the livestock sector.”

Meanwhile, ECOWAS, in collaboration with its partners, has carried out studies on the establishment of a feed supply center, exceptional import procedures for animal feed in crisis situations, development of an online booking and purchasing application, established information platform on the availability and accessibility of animal feed in feed banks as well as prepared a harmonized protocol for sampling and analysis of animal feed.

“We firmly believe that a strong regional animal feed industry will make the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve more operational and more effective in crisis management”, he added.

The PRISMA Project is co-financed by the European Union and the Spanish Cooperation (AECID) and with the technical support of the Luxembourg Cooperation, Belgian Cooperation and the Spanish Cooperation.