The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Andrew Kwasari on Tuesday announced that the Federal Government had commenced the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
Kwasari said that President Muhammadu Buhari had secured a €400,000 grant from the Netherlands for the initiative. He also disclosed that 20 governors had shown interest in the programme.
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According to the statement issued by the Communications Lead, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development-Project for Agricultural Development Planning, Sandra Affun, Buhari secured the grant during his visit to Netherlands. The statement also stated that the government would implement the pilot projects in Nasarawa, Adamawa, Plateau and Gombe states.
Kwasari revealed that a kick-off meeting for the implementation of the pilot phase of the livestock plan was held recently in Nasarawa State in the Office of the Deputy Governor, Emmanuel Akabe.
According to him, the pilot phase of the NLTP in |Nasarawa State was being implemented at the Awe Grazing Reserves and the recent two-day trip by his team to Nasarawa was to ensure that the state livestock transformation team was fully aware of the requirements for successfully implementing the pilot programme.
On state governors interested in the programme, the FMARD-PACE outlined them to include the governors of Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara, Kano, Ondo and Katsina.
Others include Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Gombe, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Ekiti, Kogi, Ebonyi and Kwara.
The Nasarawa State deputy governor was quoted as saying, “We are quite enthusiastic about this programme starting in Nasarawa State.
“We feel it is a great honour that Nasarawa State was picked to pilot this project. We as a state have resolved not only to be in charge but also in control.”
Cownexxion, the lead consultant in the bilateral collaboration, is expected to serve as technical partner for the implementation of the NLTP pilot ranches in Nasarawa, Adamawa, Plateau and Gombe.
