Kaduna State Government has tasked 25-man board of the state Livestock Regulatory Agency to strive towards attracting both local and Direct Foreign Investments (DFI) into the sector.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Manzo Maigari, gave the directive while inaugurating the board on Tuesday in Kaduna, saying the new board was established to set standards in livestock production in the state.
According to him, talks with investors from Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the export of more than 800,000 goats from Nigeria are nearing conclusion.
Maigari said the agency was established to sanitise the business of livestock in the state so as to meet international standards.
He said: “This will be first of its kind, not just in Kaduna state but the country in general.
“This is aimed at setting a standard as well as certification of the livestock industry to meet global standards.
“ This will build confidence, sanity and hygiene in the way our livestock are handled.”
Maigari explained that the agency has enormous benefits including the increase in the daily income of hundreds of thousands of local producers whose lives depended on the existence of the industry.
“We should be able export our meat and other livestock because they are mainly organic as they feed on natural grass and are safe from diseases.
“The Agency will also be beneficial to the whole of West Africa which will turn Kaduna state into an agricultural hub,“ he said.
He urged members of the board to strive towards achieving maximum capacity to meet the timeline as the market for livestock is large.
According to him, the state needed to take advantage and attract foreign exchange as well as grow its Internally Generated Revenue.
Responding, AlhajiBalarabe Ibrahim-Jamo, Chairman of the board said that the establishment of the agency took a lot of hard work and commitment.
“We shall, therefore, strive to meet the aspirations of the government and justify the trust reposed in us.“
He said a committee set up in December 2018 had gone round the 23 local governments sensitising communities on activities of the agency and its expectations from livestock producers to meet set standards.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr AbdulkadirKassim, urged the members to put in their best as their work was technical that needed a template for a befitting sector.
TBI Africa.com said the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dr Leo Nyam is the Director-General of the new agency.
The agency’s board members were drawn from Ministries of Health and Human Services, Environment, Local Government Affairs, and Justice, with others coming from the Dairy, Butchers and Poultry Associations in the state.
