A Non-governmental organisation, Epis Community Development Initiative, has stressed the importance of collaboration among stakeholders in the dairy sector to help reduce Nigeria’s dependence on dairy imports, noting that boosting local production and strengthening the dairy supply chain are critical to meeting the growing demands of Nigeria’s rapidly expanding population.

Speaking at a two-day seminar held in Abuja recently, themed: “Feeding the Future: Nordic Expertise Meets Nigeria’s Livestock Ambition”, the founder of the organisation, Olufunke Hassan, lamented that the dairy sector remains significantly underdeveloped, contributing far below its true potential to national output.

She explained that the organisation is partnering with Nordic experts to sit with Nigerian stakeholders including officials from the Nigerian Senate Committee on Agriculture and the Ministry of Livestock Development, among others, to share ideas and come up with a blueprint on how to collaboratively find solutions to the challenges facing the sector.

Speaking on the shift from open grazing to ranching, Hassan, expressed support for the policy but cautioned that to achieve the desired result, Nigeria must prioritise inclusive dialogue and practical solutions, particularly on the challenges herders would face in the transition process.

She further explained that ranching offers better agricultural outputs such as milk yield and beef quality.
According to her, “In a ranch, you get better beef and a whole lot more milk. The milk our local breeds produce is far below our national needs.”

She added that while laws against open grazing have been passed in some parts of the country, implementation remains a challenge.

Hassan, who urged caution on the transitioning from open grazing to ranching, said that such adoption might be taken long before it is achieved owing to the country’s complex mix of cultures and long-standing pastoral traditions.

She emphasised the need for herders to be provided with affordable and readily available animal feed, noting that when these are missing, the modern ranching becomes difficult regardless of policy enforcement or land allocation.

“If the demand for feed has not been met and you are telling them they will now pay exorbitant amounts for feed, they will not stop grazing,” she warned.

In her address, the Principal Animal Husbandry Officer at the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, Amina Mohammed, commended President Bola Tinubu for establishing for the ministry that oversees livestock development in the country, expressing optimism that it would address the challenges in the livestock value chain.

She informed the gathering that the ministry has begun repositioning the sector through the implementation of the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Scheme, to boost the sector’s value.

She explained that the ministry is leveraging international partnerships to strengthen productivity and resilience in the sector, citing support from the World Bank through the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (LPRESS).

“Through capacity building and support from international organisations like the World Bank, we believe that the contribution of livestock to GDP will significantly improve,” she said.

On the transitioning to ranching, Mohammed acknowledged that open grazing remains a major challenge but stressed that a transition to ranching must be gradual, given the realities on the ground.

“You have to crawl before you walk. Ranching requires huge investment,” she said, noting that about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s livestock resources are in the hands of pastoralists, many of whom she said, have limited formal education and still depend on traditional systems.

She explained that the ministry’s immediate focus is on pastoral development, rather than abrupt enforcement of ranching, to ensure a sustainable and inclusive transition.

“As of now, pastoral development is an area that the Federal Ministry of Livestock is working on. Gradually, we will move into ranching,” Mohammed said, adding that the federal government is already exploring the integration of ranching into the legal framework.