Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is said to be responsible for about €4.1billion of economic loss and a corresponding of about 40% of deaths in livestock, especially cattle, sheep, and goats, across the Country, BusinessDay has learnt.
Nigeria Livestock Sector is currently estimated to be valued at about 417 million Livestock of animals which constitute 49.1 sheep million, 20.9 million cattle, 88.2 million sheep, and 258.5 million chickens.
Additionally, the pig population is said to be estimated at around 9.2 million, while, the sector`s overall contribution to the Nigerian economy, accounting for 10% of the of the agricultural GDP and providing a primary source of protein
A Report prepared by ‘Agramondis Research and Consulting’, a Nigerian Research Firm seen by BusinessDay, stated that the sector also currently provides employment of a total of 4.5 million pastoralists, and other workers providing direct and indirect support services in the sector.
The sector is said to be dominated by smallholder farmers with men having the major roles in the sector and women engaging in various livestock activities. However, women often play a major role in the poultry, goat, and sheep value chain but overall, have limited decision-making power in the sector
Despite, what is considered to be the huge economic contributions of the sector to the Nigerian socio-economic development over the time, the Federal Government investment in the development of the sector has remained minimal, the Report noted.
A total of N1. 77 billion was voted for the sector in the 2025 Federal Government Final Budget Proposal to boost animal health, strengthen disease prevention efforts, and support sustainable livestock management across the country
Nigeria’s livestock sector faces different productivity and climate change challenges, hindering economic growth. Understanding these challenges enables research into digital solutions for breeding, feed management, disease control and sustainable practices that would improve productivity.
In spite of the huge contribution to Nigeria food security, the livestock sector in Nigeria is underperforming and laden with both internal (productivity) and external (climatic) challenges. Though steadily growing at 1.7%, with a projected 1.2% increase, Nigeria’s livestock sector struggles to meet domestic demand due to underproduction, requiring imports from other countries, the Report added.
Other challenging confronting the sector indicates, scarcity of grazing land due to erratic rainfall and drought has led to the low feed quality, and unavailability of pasture causing the farmers-herders’ conflicts, and lack of record-keeping and access to livestock data among smallholders is a major productivity challenge in Nigeria’s livestock sector with a EUR 7.8 billion market opportunity.
Read also: Lingering insecurity dims hope for economic rebound
Insecurity challenge is a complex issue responsible for between EUR 1.3 billion to EUR 4.1 billion of economic loss and a corresponding 10% to 40% of deaths in livestock, especially cattle, sheep, and goats, while heat stress poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s livestock sector, with a projected 15% annual reduction in production, translating to a potential loss of EUR 517 million (NGN 500 billion).
The report indicated that some specific areas within the Nigerian livestock sector that could benefit from digital solutions include genealogical bookkeeping, livestock tracking and monitoring, veterinary services, climate-resilient breeding and genetics, supply chain optimisation and traceability, digital insurance, and digital extension services.
The poor animal husbandry practices present the most opportunity for investment in Nigeria; EUR 14 billion but capital-intensive, and an annual EUR 6 billion losses in Nigeria’s livestock sector due to drought highlight investment prospects in low-cost technologies for conserving forages such as hay and silage, low-water livestock breeds, rainwater collection, and sustainable water infrastructure.
On the other hand, low-cost community-based fodder systems are a viable investment opportunity for reducing the operational expenses of animal feed, as well as investments in climate-resilient breeding technologies, such as genomic selection, have the potential to expedite the development of livestock with enhanced adaptability.
Nigeria’s livestock sector significantly contributes to the Nigerian economy accounting for 10% of the agriculture GDP, serves as a primary source of employment and contributes about 36.5% of protein consumed in Nigerian households, in form of meat, dairy, and leather products.
In order to address these challenges, it is crucial to reviving the sector and ensuring its sustainable development. The government has made efforts to address the farmer-herder crisis caused by climate-induced drought by working collaboratively with the farmers, and herders to provide the right infrastructure.
“If the necessary infrastructure is provided, there can be a mitigation of the farmer-herder conflicts that arise from the herders’ need to protect their livestock through long-distance grazing due to desertification. Also, sustainable practices and digital solutions present a substantial investment opportunity that provides a potential savings of EUR 14 billion and improvement across the livestock subsectors.
“The digital solutions also play a crucial role in effective genealogical bookkeeping, livestock tracking and monitoring, veterinary services, climate-resilient breeding and genetics, supply chain optimisation and traceability, digital insurance, and digital extension services.
“Despite the deliberate and focused efforts made towards implementing solutions to address these challenges, farmers often exhibit resistance when it comes to adopting solutions that have the potential to disrupt their social and moral practices. This cultural resistance towards digital advancements poses a substantial barrier, as certain farmers tend to prefer traditional methods due to their distrust for innovations that are perceived as a threat to established conventional approaches”, the Report observed.
The Report concluded that the livestock sector possesses immense potential to meet the increasing demand. However, this potential is curtailed by numerous challenges. While sustainable and digital solutions have been introduced, their adoption is limited by the prevailing conventional practices common among smallholder farmers, who form the majority in the livestock sector.
As such, it is crucial to initiate and promote farmer education and awareness regarding the benefits of embracing sustainable practices. Practical demonstrations can serve as an effective method to swiftly facilitate their adoption.
