In an effort to put an end to incessant clashes between farmers and herders in the country, the federal government has established agro-rangers to protect ranches with about 3000 of the rangers are currently undergoing and also the establishing of cow colonies.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, 13 states have offered 5,000 hectares of land each to help bring the project to fruition.
The minister who represented Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo discussed this on Wednesday at the ongoing livestock stakeholders conference organized by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and other stakeholders in Abuja.
He explained that if the strategy works in addition to stakeholder recommendations from the national conference, it will be recommended to other neighbouring North African countries to adopt.
He expressed concerns that the nation’s security was already threatened by the incessant crisis between the farmers and herdsmen.
Ogbeh describing the conference as timely, he said implementing the recommendations would help promote the economy and create jobs for the unemployed.
“In the face of expanding human population, food production and demand have increased in a commensurate manner. The pressure on land is great. There is a decline in soil fertility and farm holdings are small while grazing lands are being degraded due to increasing livestock activities, poor management, effects of climate change and increased conversion to farmlands due to high population of humans.
“We have heard so many have lost money, 300 cows rustled, 200 cows taken. We have now put together a new security group called agrorangers. This group is being trained by the ministry of interior. They are heavily armed. 3000 of them are heavily trained.
“If you have a ranch or big agricultural project, approach us, we will post them to you at no cost. They will protect your investment.”
He assured of the government provision of insurance cover to protect their investments. He lamented the lack of attention given to the livestock industry by successive administrations.
He said pastoralist had been marginalized with their grazing routes and reserves already taken over while attention was mainly on crops.
The Senate Committee Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu in his remark called for holistic approach to addressing the situation.
He stressed the important contributions of pastoral farmers to the nutritional need in the country. According to him, grazing reserves and cattle routes were in the government Gazette before he was born.
“We have to make-up our mind on what to do to achieve transformation in the livestock industry,” he said.
