The Programme Officer, Youths Against Disaster Initiative (YADI) has raised concerns over Nigeria’s poor earnings from livestock exports, describing the returns as extremely low when measured against the country’s large cattle population and global ranking.
Farouk Bala, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, said Nigeria maintains an estimated 20 million cattle and is listed among the top 15 countries worldwide in herd size. Yet, he noted that export income from the sector remains negligible. According to him, the country generated only $172,000 from cow exports in 2024, earned $1.15 million from live animal exports in 2021, and recorded less than $200,000 from meat and edible offal exports.
He explained that the figures reveal a significant gap between Nigeria’s livestock capacity and its actual performance in the international market. While the Federal Government has put the livestock sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product at over $32 billion, Bala said export potential has not been fully realised.
He referred to projections under the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy 2025 to 2030, which estimate that the sector could contribute between $74 billion and $94 billion to the economy within the next decade if properly managed.
Drawing comparisons with other major producers, Bala observed that countries operating modern ranching systems are earning billions of dollars annually from beef exports. Brazil posted about $9.3 billion in beef exports in 2024. The United States recorded $7.2 billion, Australia reached $8 billion, and Uruguay generated $2.85 billion through premium beef production supported by traceability systems.
Bala argued that adopting structured ranching in Nigeria would improve compliance with international standards in hygiene, traceability and quality control. This, he said, would open access to regional markets within ECOWAS and create opportunities in the Middle East and Europe, while also helping the country cut back on meat and dairy imports and conserve foreign exchange.
Beyond trade benefits, he stated that reforming livestock management would create employment across several segments of the value chain, including veterinary services, feed production, meat processing, transportation, leather works and cold storage operations. He added that such development could stimulate rural economies, provide jobs for young people and reduce the movement of job seekers to urban centres.
Bala also linked structured ranching to improved access to finance, explaining that properly registered ranches with reliable data would be more attractive to banks, insurers and agricultural technology providers.
On the security situation, he referenced data attributed to the Centre for Crisis Communication which indicated that about 3,000 lives were lost in farmer and herder conflicts in the North Central region between 2018 and 2023, with more than 300,000 people displaced. He maintained that organised ranching would introduce accountability, reduce disputes over farmland and limit opportunities for criminal elements to operate.
While commending the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for backing ranching reform and naming Kwara State as a pilot location, Bala said public misunderstanding continues to hinder progress. He noted that many stakeholders are open to reform but are influenced by inaccurate information.
He called on federal and state authorities, pastoral groups, farmers and development partners to work together to unlock the economic value of Nigeria’s cattle population. With transparent implementation and broad based support, he said the livestock sector could become a key pillar for industrial growth, job creation and improved national security.
