FAO engages livestock stakeholders to secure long-term livestock sector sustainability
During a three-day formulation exercise, national and international partners developed long-term scenarios for the future of the cattle dairy and poultry industry in Nigeria to support evidence-based strategies for sustainable long-term development.
Abuja - Nigeria - Over the last 50 years, global food demand approximately tripled, according to FAOSTAT, due to the doubling of world population and an increased per-capita food demand. It has been projected that Africa’s emergent population in the next 20 – 30 years will increase demand for animal source foods , exercising unprecedented pressure on livestock production systems.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the government of Nigeria, is implementing the Africa Sustainable Livestock (ASL) 2050 project, funded by the United State Agency for International Development (USAID). The aim is to facilitate dialogue and consultation among national and regional stakeholders about the sustainable long-term development and improvement of the livestock sector and its production systems.
An introductory livestock scenario workshop, held from 30th -31st October 2018, helped to review the current livestock situations and trends in growth of population and the demand for animal source foods. The current scenario building workshop, held from 20th - 22nd November 2018 in Abuja, seeks to develop national scenarios for livestock production systems by 2050 and to anticipate challenges the sector will face to satisfy the demand for livestock products, such as risks of increased conflicts between settled farmers and pastoralists and increased risks of re-emerging or emerging infectious diseases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza.
ASL 2050 to secure the future of livestock in Nigeria
While acknowledging strategic importance of the Nigerian livestock sector to the country’s economy and livelihood’s sustainability, the FAO Representative in Nigeria H.E. Suffyan Koroma noted that “the failure to transform and develop the sector would have undesirable effects on the country”.
“These include a slowdown on the growth of national industries, lack of employment opportunities for young people- who constitute the majority of Nigeria's population-, a reduction in the income of Nigerian actors of the livestock sector, and the loss of revenues”, he stated.
After the launch of ASL 2050 project in April 2018 in Nigeria, the most pressing concern was how best to respond to the anticipate rise in demand, due to growing affluence and population. The FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Nigeria, with support of the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Environment (FMoE) and Health (FMoH), are jointly working together to come up with suitable and comprehensive recommendations to address this.
Participants are drawn from the three-catchment ministries, Universities, Research Institutions, Farmers organizations, National Bureau of Statistics, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders who have been engaged in a strategic conversation to build upon long-term livestock projections to articulate country and livestock scenarios for 2050, including their impact on public health, the environment and livelihoods.
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