From Our Correspondent
The Edo Government has domesticated the National Animal Identification and Traceability System (NAITS) to create a database of livestock and other information on production for traceability in the state.
The state government launched NAITS during the fifth National Animal Husbandry Development Committee (NAHDC) meeting held in Benin on Tuesday.
NAITS is an initiative of the Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security with MEGACORP company as its technical partner.
Declaring the meeting open, Gov. Godwin Obaseki said the launch of NAITS would solve the problem of the farmers and herders crisis in the country.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Stephen Idehenre, represented the governor at the inauguration.
Obasek said the agricultural sector required extensive coordination for effective and efficient resource utilisation by farmers.
“I have approved the creation of the Department of Animal Husbandry Services in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. This is part of our institutional reforms to strengthen the EdoSTEP.
“Thus, the choice of Edo State to host this event is one of the benefits of our institutional reforms in the civil service.
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“Therefore, I am happy that Edo has become a melting point for technocrats in the diverse field of Animal Husbandry. Here, we will discuss industry issues and proffer solutions to grow the sector.
“We recognise that capacity and institution building are critical to success. Hence our initiative to invest in agriculture education and innovation.
“Our intervention in the oil palm sector has been adjudged the biggest in Sub-Sahara Africa.
“We have allocated over 70,000 hectares of unencumbered land to nine) private investors for oil palm production.
“Presently, the Edo State Government is partnering with Heifer International and Amo Farms Sieberer Hatchery Limited to empower er 200,000 smallholder poultry farmers by 2030.
He explained that under the initiative, Amo Farms Sieberer Hatchery Limited would process made-in-Edo Chicken.
“We are starting with 10,000 birds per day with a plan to scale up as farmers’ production capacity increases.”
The governor urged the committee to develop implementable strategies that would guide the government to develop further the livestock industry worth over N33 trillion annually.
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Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, thanked Gov. Obaseki for hosting the event.
Umakhihe said the livestock sector accounted for more than 40 per cent of the agricultural gross domestic product.
“This is 33 per cent of the world’s protein intake and it supports over one billion people,” he said.
He added that Nigeria had the largest population of livestock in West Africa, accounting for about nine per cent of the contribution of Agriculture to the National GDP.
“The sector also has a huge economic potential worth over N33 trillion annually,” Umakhihe said.
He explained that the ministry launched NAITS to create a database of identified livestock to discourage rustling in the country.
“I am glad that Gov. Godwin Obaseki will be launching NAITS in Edo state today. I urge other states to launch NAITS and commence implementation.
The National President, the Animal Science Association of Nigeria (ASAN), Mr Raymond Isiadinso, called on all stakeholders to work together to build a stronger and resilient animal agriculture sector.
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