Special Adviser to the President and National Coordinator of the Presidential Livestock Reform, Professor Attahiru Jega, has warned that Nigeria risks acute protein deficits and heightened food insecurity, as violent farmer-herder crises and poor investments threaten the nation’s ₦30 trillion livestock sector.
He stated this at the 2025 edition of the Blueprint Newspaper Annual Impact Series/Awards ceremony on Tuesday in Abuja.
Painting a bleak future for Nigeria’s food, security, and health sectors, the former INEC chairman said that urgent closure of investment gaps and efficient policy coordination, among other measures, are the solutions.
He noted that “the persistent scourge of violent farmer-herder conflicts, primarily driven by competition over increasingly scarce natural resources, exacerbated by climate change and poor land governance mechanisms, intensified pressure on already fragile rural livelihoods.
“This violence, in turn, feeds into broader issues of national insecurity, displacement and diminished social cohesion, making reform not only an economic necessity but a peace-building imperative.”
Jega pointed out that even though the Nigerian livestock industry is valued at approximately N30 trillion, “For far too long, the sector has suffered from chronic underinvestment, both in terms of public sector budgetary allocations and private capital infusion.
“This investment gap is evident in the glaring deficits in key infrastructure ranging from ranches and grazing reserves to cold chains, animal feed mills, veterinary, research institutes, laboratories and livestock market systems.”
Jega analysed that the livestock sector occupies a uniquely strategic position within the broader agricultural economy of our nation, contributing an estimated 7 to 9 per cent of agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and providing direct and indirect livelihoods to over 20 million Nigerians.
However, to fully tap this potential, Nigeria must address its deep-seated structural inefficiencies and invest massively and appropriately to overcome them.
“Studies have shown that demographic shifts and evolving dietary preferences are set to place unprecedented pressure on Nigeria’s livestock systems in the coming decades. Projections indicate that by 2050, Nigeria’s population will reach nearly 400 million, positioning it as the third most populous nation globally.
“This demographic surge will necessitate a 253 per cent increase in poultry meat, a 117 per cent rise in beef, and a staggering 577 per cent expansion in milk production to satisfy domestic consumption requirements.”
He said that President Bola Tinubu’s Livestock Reforms Initiative, with the support and assistance of the Presidential Livestock Reforms Implementation Committee (PLRIC), is a key strategy of the government that would refocus the sector as it seeks to recalibrate Nigeria’s livestock economy into a modern, climate-smart, conflict-resilient and economically competitive industry.
He therefore called for investment in commercial ranching, mechanised feed production, improved genetics, cold chain infrastructure, and digitally integrated market platforms, as well as the development of conflict-sensitive programmes that address the root causes of farmer-herder tensions through land-use reform, inclusive dialogue, and equitable access to resources, among other measures.
