Overview of the livestock sub-sector

Importance of livestock in the economy

3. The LSS contributes significantly to the national economy. In 1963, it accounted for 6% of the overall GDP and 10% of the agricultural GDP. By 1981, it constituted 5% of the total GDP and 20% of the agricultural GDP. The doubling of the share of the LSS in the agricultural GDP reflects the fall in the share of agriculture from about 60% of the GDP in 1960 to approximately 26% in 1981. The Livestock Review Mission (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981) estimates that livestock production in 1981 prices amounted to about N2.0 billion (US$ 2.0 billion).

Livestock population and distribution

4. Nigeria's livestock population in 1981 was estimated at about 9.3 million cattle, 8.8 million sheep, 20.8 million goats, 133.5 million poultry and 0.86 million pigs (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981). Ruminant livestock distribution is limited by tsetse fly incidence and by the availability of forage. The semi arid ecological zone (400-900 mm rainfall/annum) which is virtually tsetse fly free, but with the lowest forage resources, previously carried over 90% of the cattle and 70% of the sheep and goats. However, recent evidence by Putt et al (1980) and Bourn and Milligan (1983) suggests that there has been a marked southward drift in Nigeria's cattle populations into the sub-humid zone (9001500 mm rainfall/annum) partly due to the opening up of the zone with the attendant reduction in tsetse infestation and partly because of the desire of the pastoralists to overcome the feed supply problem. This movement is in line with the government's policy of relocating in the sub-humid zone a major portion of the national ruminant herd from the overstocked semiarid zone (David-West, 1980).

5. With respect to the monogastrics, pigs are more widely distributed in the southern part of the humid zone (+ 1500 mm rainfall/annum) and in the middle belt between the humid and subhumid zones, while poultry are kept throughout the country in traditional backyard flocks and modern commercial units.

Production

6. Cattle production in Nigeria remains a traditional activity carried out under pastoral and agropastoral systems in the north and mixed farming systems in the south. Under the pastoralist system, animals are managed within nomadic or transhumance herding systems by the Fulanis. The average number of animals per family is about 90 (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981). The main constraint to increased production is the nutritional stress experienced by cattle during the dry season from January to March. This often necessitates seasonal migrations in search of pasture. These migrations, apart from the hardship they impose on the animals, have often resulted in conflicts with crop farmers who complain that the migrating animals eat and damage their crops. Partly because of these conflicts and partly due to the opening up of the sub-humid zone, it is estimated that about 40% of the erstwhile pastoralists have settled in areas where they have been able to overcome land tenure constraints and on government grazing reserves specifically established for this purpose (Waters - Bayer and Taylor-Powell, 1986; Oppong, 1988).

7. Sedentarisation has largely been accompanied by an increasing trend towards improved integration of animal and crop husbandry. The settled pastoralists or agropastoralists often reduce their herd size to accommodate the sedentary way of life. Otchere (1986) found the average number of animals per family to be about 45. Production averaged 280 litres of milk per cow per annum, with a 48% calving rate and an offtake rate of 11%.

8. Two other less significant forms of cattle production are typified by crop farmers who keep a few heads of cattle to complement their cropping activities and by large-scale public sector cattle ranching operations. Examples of the former include the semi-arid zone farmer who keeps a few heads of cattle for draft purposes and the humid zone farmer who keeps trypanotolerant cattle in herds of up to 30 in the west and from 1 to 6 in the east for sale when meat supplies are low.

9. Small ruminant production methods vary from extensive, low-input systems based on free grazing and village scavenging in areas with low population pressure, to more intensive cut-and-carry feeding of confined animals in the intensively cultivated parts of the country. In the semi-arid and sub-humid zones, pastoralists and agropastoralists keep sheep and goats as part of their cattle herds. Sheep are kept predominantly by pastoralists in herds of 20-40, while agropastoralists keep goats with an average herd size of 5 (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981; Bayer, 1986). Trypanotolerant dwarf sheep and goats are also commonly kept by smallholder crop farmers in the humid zone. The average flock size per owner is about 3-4, with goats predominating. Throughout the country, flock size and productivity are mainly constrained by disease and the availability of feed.

10. Poultry are raised under two distinct production systems. In the first, accounting for about 85% of the national flock, birds are raised in small backyard flocks throughout the country, while in the second, accounting for the remaining 15%, birds are managed along modern commercial lines in units usually located near the major urban centres. Although productivity is higher in the latter with hens laying about 160 eggs per year compared with about 40 eggs per annum in the backyard system, both systems are constrained by disease (Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981). The commercial flock is further constrained by reliance on maize feed imports which for a time (from mid-1970s to mid-1980s) was cheaper than locally produced maize as a result of the distorted domestic price regime caused by the overvaluation of the naira and low world market prices.

11. Table 1 shows the growth in production of meat and milk during the last 15 years. In arriving at these data Nigerian Livestock Meat Authority/Federal Livestock Department slaughter data have been adjusted, based on evidence available from other studies (e.g. Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981; Okali and Upton, 1984), to take account of unrecorded slaughterings. Although figures such as those in Table 1 are only rough estimates, the table shows that by the mid-1980s the production of goat meat, pork and milk had increased by about 50% over the average of the mid-1970s, while the amount of beef, mutton, and poultry meat produced had roughly doubled. During the same period, per capita production levels varied somewhat. For beef and mutton, production per capita increased by almost 60%. For goat meat and pork, per capita production levels remained more or less constant, while there was a decline of about 10% in per capita milk production. Even by African standards, the figures of per capita meat and milk production given in Table I are extremely low, lower than the East African regional average of about 13.8 kg of meat and 35 kg of milk per caput in 1984 (Anteneh et al, 1988).

Trade

12. Despite the increase in production recorded for most livestock products during the last 15 years, imports of livestock products have continued. Table I shows that, with the exception of pork, imports of all the other products have increased. The increase in imports was particularly significant during 1977-81. The sharp rise in oil revenues beginning in 1974 and continuing till the early 1980s increased incomes considerably. This, coupled with the high income elasticities of demand for animal products, led to an increase in demand but supply did not keep pace. ¹ The growing gap between supply and demand was largely met by imports. However, in an attempt to reduce the import bill, the government has, since 1983, cut imports of most animal products through a series of policy measures including import licenses, physical quota limits and outright bans.

13. Internal trade in livestock is mostly handled by the private sector. Historically, the trade has been largely unidirectional - from the producing areas in the north to the large urban centres in the south. The marketing system consists of three main markets: primary (rural), secondary (local), tertiary (urban/terminal) with middlemen acting as links between traders at any two levels. The improved road network, particularly since the mid- 1970s, has been of major benefit to the LSS as it allows easy access to livestock markets. The operations of the marketing system are generally considered well organized and efficient (World Bank, 1985a). As discussed in the next section, government attempts to provide parallel marketing and processing facilities through the Nigerian Livestock and Meat Authority (NLMA) and, later on, through the Nigerian Livestock Production Company (NLPC) have been unsuccessful.

Table 1. Average annual production, net imports and consumption of selected livestock products in Nigeria, 1972-86.

Period	Commodity	Domestic Production ('000 mt)	Net Imports ('000 mt)	Aggregate Consumption ('000 mt)	Per Capita Production (kg)	Per Capita Consumption (kg)
1972-76	Beef	105.5	32.0	137.5	1.70	2.21
	Mutton	15.5	1.5	17.0	0.25	0.27
	Goat meat	49.0	2.6	51.6	0.80	0.83
	Pork	15.0	1.0	16.0	0.24	0.26
	Poultry	51.5	1.8	53.3	0.83	0.86
	Milk	241.0	249.0	490.0	3.90	7.87
1977-81	Beef	202.9	53.4	256.3	2.71	3.43
	Mutton	23.5	2.0	25.5	0.31	0.34
	Goat meat	64.0	3.5	67.5	0.86	0.90
	Pork	22.0	2.0	24.0	0.29	0.32
	Poultry	69.0	8.6	77.6	0.92	1.04
	Milk	279.0	613.5	892.5	3.73	11.94
1982-86	Beef	265.9	69.0	334.9	2.84	3.57
	Mutton	37.2	3.0	40.2	0.40	0.43
	Goat meat	79.0	4.2	83.2	0.84	0.89
	Pork	24.0	1.0	25.0	0.26	0.27
	Poultry	95.8	5.2	101.0	1.02	1.08
	Milk	333.4	381.4	714.8	3.56	7.63

Notes:

(1) Domestic production of beef, mutton, goat meat and pork was estimated by adjusting Federal Livestock Department slaughter figures to account for unrecorded slaughterings. For poultry meat, domestic production was estimated following the approach wed by the Livestock Review Mission of 1981 (see Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981 p. 33). Data on domestic milk production include estimates of the production of whole fresh milk from traditional and exotic herds but exclude the production of milk from milk processing plants.

(2) All figures relating to milk in the table are expressed in liquid milk equivalents.

(3) The import figures for beef include both the meat equivalent of live imports and processed beef imports. For sheep and goats the figures represent only the meat equivalent of live imports, while for pork and poultry only imported bacon and chicken are included since live imports of pigs and poultry are not allowed except for experimental purposes.

(4) Aggregate Consumption = Domestic Production + Net Imports.

Sources:

Federal Livestock Department, Nigerian Livestock Information Service (various issues) and Computer Print-outs.

Federal Office of Statistics, Nigeria Trade Summary (various issues).

Federal Ministry of Agriculture, 1981 and Nwoko, 1986.

Consumption

14. In the absence of any comprehensive national consumption survey, aggregate consumption estimates have been derived by adding up domestic production and net import figures as shown in Table 1. The table indicates that aggregate consumption of most meat products virtually doubled between 1972 and 1986. Aggregate milk consumption in liquid milk equivalents increased from 490,000 tons in the mid- 1970s to 892,500 tons in the early 1980s. However, aggregate milk consumption appeared to have declined between 1982-86, and particularly since 1984.

15. Per capita meat consumption averaged 5.6 kg over the period 1972-86. Looking at individual meat products, per capita consumption of beef, mutton and poultry increased by almost 50% during this period, but there was no growth in per capita consumption of goat meat and pork. Per capita milk consumption, after an initial rise from the level of the mid-1970s, declined sharply in the mid-1980s.

16. Overall, Table I shows that the production-consumption gap is wider for milk than for meat. Nigeria has traditionally relied on imports for its dairy consumption. As a result, trade and economic policies have tended to influence milk consumption more than meat consumption. The decline in per caput milk consumption since the mid- 1980s suggests that growth of income and urbanization may be less important than relative prices in determining the demand for milk since the fall in demand has coincided with periods of sharp increases in the price of milk (more about this in the following section).