The federal government has said that herdsmen would soon be organised into ranches in the country, with special grasses and water, which will give better yield and make the animals healthier.
This was disclosed by the minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, when President Muhammadu Buhari received the Global Chief Executive Officer of Friesland Campina, The Netherlands, Mr Roelf Joosten, at the State House, Abuja, yesterday.
IGTV recalls that incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen have led to loss of lives across the country.
The federal government had earlier proposed grazing reserves as a solution to the problem but the suggestion drew sharp condemnations from various individuals and groups.
President Muhammadu Buhari last week warned that his administration would not condone acts of banditry and criminality under any guise, and said he had mandated the security agencies to deal decisively with perpetrators of clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
Ogbeh also disclosed that special flasks, which can preserve raw milk for up to six hours, would soon be made available, to enable cattle farmers get the product to dairies in good state.
In his address, President Buhari decried the culture of waste in the country due to lack of means of preservation of agricultural products. He lamented the situation in which cattle farmers throw away milk from their animals because of lack of means of preserving and processing the product.
“We have failed to develop our assets on a permanent basis. This, we are determined to work on,” the president promised.
He urged Friesland Campina, in its collaboration with Nigeria, to educate cattle farmers that “quality matters more than quantity,” and to help them organise themselves into cooperatives for better business activities.
Mr Joosten disclosed that the 145-year-old Friesland Campina was a cooperative owned by 19,000 farmers and that it began business in Nigeria in 1973 as Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria.
He said the company was interested in partnering with the federal government to build a healthier populace through better nutrition, collaborate in the school feeding programme, and promote dairy development in the country.
