Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has launched a livestock development and implementation plan with a gestation period of 10 years.
The minister who officially launched the plan at the opening ceremony of a two -day stakeholder’s engagement meeting stated that the plan was aimed at facilitating and enhancing the provision of critical infrastructure and resolving all social impediments towards full development of the four grazing reserves in the FCT.
Aliyu noted that the outcome of the important meeting is expected to provide the FCT administration with a roadmap towards a stable and prosperous livestock sub-sector and contribute to the desire to achieve food and nutrition security, create needed jobs, and stimulate further diversification of the economy away from the oil sector.
She added that the agricultural sector contributed about 22.36 percent to the national GDP in the first quarter of 2022, with the livestock sub-sector contributing about 7 percent to the figure, while regretting that the potentials that would enable the efficient growth of the sector are yet to be activated.
“While this underscores sector and sub-sector relevance in economic growth, achieving targeted growth in livestock output has been slow.
“Projections suggest that with the exponential rise in human populations, especially in urban settings like the FCT, the demand for livestock products such as poultry meat, beef, and milk will grow without a commensurate capacity of the livestock industry to meet needs,” she affirmed.
