The federal government has affirmed its commitment towards working to harness the potentials of the livestock sector in the country for increased job opportunities and economic growth.
This was revealed by the Minister of Livestock Development, Mr. Idi Muktar, at the 2025 edition of the Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja.
While addressing the press, the Minister said since the creation of the Ministry and his appointment, his team have been engaging stakeholders in the different aspects of the sector to ensure maximum impact on the country’s economy.
According to him, the livestock sector in Nigeria is valued at 33 trillion Naira which makes it one of the most significant but yet underutilized economic assets in the country.
Disclosing his plans to transform the sector, Mr. Mukkar said the target is to increase livestock contribution to the national GDP from 5% to 10% by 2035 while creating millions of jobs and meeting the protein needs of Nigerians.
His words: “Nigeria aims to expand the livestock sector’s GDP contribution from $32 billion to $74 billion by 2035, positioning itself as a key player in both domestic and international markets for animal protein, similar to leading producers like Brazil, Argentina, and the United States”.
The ministry, he added, is working to improve the genetics of the country’s livestock while also establishing a gene bank to preserve the country’s local breeds.
“We are embarking on a massive genetic upgrade. We are going to do this, however, in a very, very methodical manner. But we are also going to generously guard our indigenous genetics.
“We are already talking with the Institutions of Learning in this country to create a gene bank where we can store all our local indigenous genetics, because they have been produced here. They are resilient, they are adaptive, they are resistant to diseases, and therefore, we don’t want to push them away,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that the ministry has taken inventory of about 417 gazette and non gazetted grazing lands running into 5 million hectares across the country.
“In fact, we have got in the inventory of all the grazing reserves in the country, both gazetted and ungazetted, running to about 417. Totaling more than 5 million hectares of land. So we are going to focus our attention on those grazing reserves that are going to receive necessary infrastructure to receive the national heart.
“What I mean by national heart, all farmable animals will one day be settled in those grazing reserves where there will be sufficient infrastructure in terms of feed and fodder, water resources, infrastructure for the adults’ families, schools, veterinary clinics, etc,” he noted.
Mr. Muktar then called on investors to collaborate with the government to tap into the tremendous potentials of the livestock sector, stating that Nigeria needs to sanitise the sector by exploring the untapped areas of the sector, such as hides and skin, packaging, bone processing and the entire value chain.
