FG Seeks Data Accuracy To Boost Livestock Sector

The national authorities has underscored the value of due information postulation and absorption connected Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) arsenic a cardinal operator for evidence-based policies, research, and improved livestock productivity successful Nigeria.

The imperishable caput of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, Dr. Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi, stated this during the National Capacity Building Workshop connected Data Collection and Management of Animal Genetic Resources, organized by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) successful collaboration with the ministry, held connected Tuesday successful Abuja.

Represented by the director, Technical, successful the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Dr Peter Alike, Akujobi emphasised that carnal familial resources signifier the backbone of livestock productivity, resilience, and clime adaptation.

“This store could not person travel astatine a much opportune time, arsenic the livestock assemblage continues to play a captious relation successful nationalist nutrient security, economical development, agrarian livelihoods, and biology sustainability,” she said.

She described the lawsuit arsenic a reaffirmation of Nigeria’s committedness to transforming the livestock assemblage done innovation, science, and technology, noting that contempt the country’s affluent diverseness of indigenous carnal familial resources, inadequate information systems person constricted the sector’s maturation potential.

The deficiency of robust and harmonized information postulation and absorption systems has hampered our quality to afloat harness this potential,” she added.

Akujobi said the capacity-building store marks a captious measurement toward strengthening organization and quality capableness to make reliable data, follow modern tools, and align with continental and planetary strategies for sustainable livestock development.

She further reiterated the ministry’s committedness to implementing the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) — its flagship model for transforming the assemblage into a productive, inclusive, and data-driven industry.

“The NL-GAS provides a wide roadmap for improving carnal genetics, enhancing provender and fodder systems, strengthening veterinary services, and promoting data-driven decision-making crossed the full worth chain,” she stated.

The imperishable caput assured stakeholders of the ministry’s continued collaboration with AU-IBAR, determination bodies, probe institutions, and improvement partners to fortify livestock policies and practices nationwide.

In his remarks, the caput of the Northeast Sub-Office for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations successful Nigeria, Al Hassan Cisse, described Nigeria arsenic big to the largest livestock colonisation successful Africa — with implicit 58.5 cardinal cattle, 124 cardinal goats, 64 cardinal sheep, 14 cardinal pigs, and 180 cardinal poultry.

He besides highlighted Nigeria’s divers livestock breeds, including the Red Sokoto goat and White Fulani cattle, stressing the urgency of protecting them done robust information systems.

“Globally, 1 successful 4 section carnal breeds is astatine hazard of extinction, and West Africa remains a data-deficient hotspot,” Cisse said, expressing optimism that the store would assistance successful processing information tools and protocols to provender Nigeria’s first-ever AnGR dataset into the planetary Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS).

The manager of AU-IBAR, Mary Mbole-Kariuki, reaffirmed the organisation’s enactment for African countries done initiatives specified arsenic the Genetics Project (2013–2019), which strengthened nationalist capacities for the conservation and sustainable usage of carnal familial resources successful enactment with the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for AnGR.

Participants astatine the store included representatives from determination organisations, improvement partners, probe institutions, and different cardinal stakeholders successful the livestock sector.