Northern governors meet minister over livestock programme implementation

UN, others strategise on FST pathways in N’East

Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) has met the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Mohammed Abubakar, over the National Livestock Transformation Programme (NLTP) and the state-level socialisation on livestock productivity projects and resilience support in the region.

Chairman of the Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State chaired the meeting held behind closed doors at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

A statement in Jos, yesterday, signed by the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Dr. Makut Macham, noted that the meeting was attended by governors of Benue, Kogi, Bauchi, Kwara, Niger, Kaduna and Nasarawa states.

After the meeting, Lalong told journalists that the engagement was necessitated by the concern of the Northern governors over the implementation of the programmes, which have a direct bearing on the people’s lives.

He said the governors were worried over the slow pace of the implementation of the programme, which he said was conceived to tackle the challenges confronting herdsmen and farmers.

Lalong said the forum welcomes the introduction of the new outfit, which it believes complements the NLTP for a positive result.

He added that now is the time for farmers would need a lot of support and assurance to produce food for the nation.

According to him, the meeting also discussed the revamping of the textile industry through the Northern Nigerian Development Company (NNDC) as a way of addressing unemployment and crime.

ALSO, the United Nations (UN), in collaboration with Federal Government, has strategised to implement the Food Systems Transformation (FST) pathways in the North East.

The pathways are to increase food production, storage and distribution in Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.

Declaring the two-day sensitisation workshop on UN food system, yesterday, in Maiduguri, Governor Babagana Zulum disclosed that the transformation could overcome the various socio-economic crises, including poverty, unemployment and climate change.

Represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Hussaini Marte, the governor said the ambitions of the national food system pathways could reduce poverty among smallholder farmers.

In her brief remarks, the UN representative, Martine Uzamugura of the World Food Programme (WFP), said:

“The UN family is committed to working with the government to strengthen and support stakeholders, particularly small holder farmers in the region.”

She, therefore, called on the stakeholders, implementation partners, farmers, Organised Private Sector (OPS) and research institutions to support the Nigerian government and people.

Director in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Faniran Sanjo, in a lead paper entitled ‘National Food Systems Transformation Pathways for Nigeria: Priority Actions’, said the goals of food systems transformation were to reduce poverty, unemployment and food insecurity.