The Federal Government has unveiled plans to recruit approximately 37,000 youths into livestock farming as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Initiative on Youths and Livestock Development.
Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, made this known while receiving a delegation from the Brazilian JBS S.A. Executive Group on a courtesy visit.
He emphasized that the initiative will target young farmers with a genuine passion for livestock, providing them with training, capacity building, and access to financial institutions and input sources.
According to a statement from the Ministry’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Ben Bem Goong, the initiative will engage 1,000 youths from each state, including women, focusing on pasture cultivation and breeding. State governments have pledged land for the project, while the federal government will supply seedlings.
Maiha outlined the livestock breeding strategy, which will employ live bulls, semen insemination, and embryo transfer to improve cattle breeds in a controlled ranching system. This approach, he noted, will accelerate production and enhance reproduction efficiency.
Nigeria’s livestock population includes 20.9 million cattle, 49.1 million sheep, 88.2 million goats, 258.5 million poultry, and 9.2 million pigs. The initiative will also integrate disease control measures targeting swine fever, anthrax, and other livestock diseases.
The pig industry is also a key component of the program, with discussions already held with the Benue State government due to its significant involvement in piggery.
Brazil’s JBS S.A. has committed to supporting the initiative by developing 200,000 ranches for beef production, a model that could be replicated across states.
Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Lacerda noted that while the poultry sector is more advanced than beef production, the scale of broiler farming will be determined as the project progresses.
Lacerda assured that further technical discussions would be conducted to strengthen collaboration, provided adequate land is made available for the initiative.
