Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Kano, Ondo, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Ekiti, Kogi, Ebonyi and Kwara States have indicated interest in the National Livestock Transformation Programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria, for ranching models.
Following incessant clashes between farmers and herders, the Federal Government in 2018 proposed various ranching models, including Ruga and the NLTP, to settle nomadic herdsmen, who are mostly Fulani.
Andrew Kwasari, senior special assistant to President Buhari on Agriculture, coordinates the NLTP and disclosed, on Tuesday, that the Federal Government would start disbursing funds to these states for model ranches, within the next one-week.
While encouraging states who had not embraced the scheme to sign up, Kwasari said, “I have the list of all the governors, who have written to participate in the NLTP. There are 22 governors, who wrote to express interest in the NLTP.
“That is the first condition in the NLTP document. This project is not just something that is done on paper. There are guidelines as approved by the National Economic Council.”
Without specifying the amounts that fall due to participating states, within the next one week as claimed, Kwasari stated, “In fact, this morning (Tuesday), I was following up with the accountant-general’s office concerning the pilot money to Nasarawa and Plateau.
“We are expecting the Federal Government to credit Nasarawa and Plateau’s accounts; their sites are ready for take-off to build the first ranch and to train pastoralists in how to build their facilities for ranching.”
He stated, “But the bottom-line is that the NLTP is an ecosystem approach. It has six pillars that address all the things that have gone wrong with our livestock production system.
Prodded further on the amount which the Federal Government is offering as support to states, he said, “To build a pilot ranch for the training of pastoralists and crop farmers, costs about N400m.
“However, some states have counterpart funding; for instance, Nasarawa has counterpart funding of up to 50 per cent from the Dutch Government. So, to build the ranch and run it for three years will cost about N400m.
Animals in the ranches will not be allowed to leave the facility all year round, while households will send in representatives, who will be trained in the model ranches in the pilot states.”
Meanwhile, Akin Olotu, special adviser to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on agriculture and agric-business, confirms that the Government of Ondo State had submitted its business plan to the NLTP, and was waiting for the NLTP’s action on the business plan.
