Farmers-herders clash: Tinubu creates Ministry of Livestock Development to stop crisis

Towards ending the perennial farmers-herders clash in the country, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved establishment of Ministry of Livestock Development.

He has also inaugurated Renewed Hope Livestock Reform Implementation Committee at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

The mandate of the committee is to provide sector-focused solutions to address the age-long farmers-herders crisis.

Former Kano State Governor and Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after he led the committee in an audience with the president at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

D’Gallery gathered that on September 14, 2023, the National Livestock Reforms Committee recommended that the president creates a “Ministry of Livestock Resources” to reduce the perennial conflict between farmers and nomadic cattle herders nationwide.

This formed part of 21 recommendations captured in a document submitted to the president to enhance the Federal Government’s comprehensive response to the lingering cases of bloodshed.

The document highlighted details of the proposed solutions where the committee advocated a reform agenda examining conflict mitigation and resource management.

“This agenda should include the establishment and resuscitation of grazing reserves as suggested by many experts and well-meaning Nigerians and other methods of land utilisation,” Ganduje said.

“Create the Ministry of Livestock Resources in line with practice in many other West African countries. In the alternative, Federal and state governments should expand the scope of existing Departments of Livestock Production to address the broader needs of the industry,” the statement said.

Ganduje, who explained the complexity of the challenge at the time, said that the government’s approach must address the four kinds of herders which include those who settle at home, nomadic herdsmen traversing the country, those from neighbouring West African countries as well as those who have settled among certain ethnic tribes and indigenized.

He lamented the sector’s low productivity, adding that it made Nigeria import-dependent, draining scarce foreign reserves for importing dairy, meat, and other livestock products.

He expressed worries that the conflicts had been resulting in killings of citizens and loss of livelihoods and also affect peaceful coexistence in the country.

“The Report grew out of the urgent need to reform and develop the livestock industry and to provide solutions to the age-long conflicts between herders and farmers in Nigeria,” he said.

“But to find the solution to achieve the desired goals, you’ll need a strong institution,” he added.

“We recommended the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock and subsequent agencies so that various aspects of the recommendations will have appropriate institutions for implementation,” the APC helmsman had explained 10 months ago.

He noted that the committee also recommended a funding source, including inflows from international organisations, the private sector, and the government.