Nigeria has been estimated to have 19 million heads of cattle, which on a conservative estimation of N100, 000 per cattle translates to N1.9 trillion. The cattle market is indeed filled with immense potential, not only for beef but also dairy production.
As experts have observed, Nigeria mostly imports cattle from other countries for local consumption as locally bred herds are unable to meet consumption needs. 70 percent of the cattle business in Nigeria relies on herd being brought from; Cameroun, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and even Benin Republic.
Akinwumi Adesina, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, had projected an increase in beef consumption in the country from 360,000 tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes by 2050.
In 2016, Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos state Governor, said 6,000 cattle is consumed daily in the state, which may increase to 8,000 in the next five years, and this translates to present consumption of 2.19 million cattle annually in the state.
The incessant clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in different parts of the country is assuming a worrisome trend like the Boko Haram carnage, necessitating calls for introduction of proper ranches for the cattle rearing business in Nigeria.
Audu Ogbeh, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development had first described the Federal Government’s ‘solution’ as creation of grazing areas in the country, where the herdsmen would take care of their cattle. “We will grow grass in the South to feed the cattle in the North, just as Saudi Arabia did,” he said at the time.
The rationality of the proposal however remains doubtful as it is unknown how government intends to regulate large of expanse of land- where all manner of herdsmen will bring their cattle to graze.
Ogheh himself has since become a proponent of ranching, saying at this year’s BusinessDay Agribusiness and Food Security Summit, that; “When your cow in Nigeria marches from Adamawa to Lagos that is a little more than exercise, therefore we have to confine Nigerian cows in ranches willy-nilly. And when we do, you young Nigerians here, I can assure you if you have just 20 milk cows behind your house, well secured, feeding the cows with at least 10kg of fodder per day, and 40 litres of water, then you will collect enough milk to be a very comfortable Nigerian without looking for a job.”
With an estimated 19 million cattle heads valued at over N1.9 trillion, the cattle business has potentialities for significant growth, if ranches can be introduced, experts say.
The decision by herdsmen to migrate in search of greener pastures has also been described as counterproductive. The north south movement, and later the south north movement in search of pasture, consistently leads to losing whatever weight has been gained during grazing periods. In the dry season, cattle could potentially lose as much as 50 percent of their weight, if there is no adequate feeding.
“Within the confines of the ranch, the animals can be sustained. You will be sure you can get feed and water for them, providing all these within the ranch. That then will minimise the movement outside the ranch in search of water and feed, in the course of which destruction of farmlands and communal clashes occur,” Chryss Onwuka, a professor of ruminant animal nutrition told BusinessDay in a previous interview.
“In their [nomadic herdsmen] tradition, once their fields start thinning out and water becomes less available, they start moving towards regions where there is enough food and water. And all these tell on their [cattle] energy, which in turn reflects on their weight, gain; bringing about weight losses that they had hoped to gain by moving. The little potential they have for weight gain is lost in the course of transiting from one place to another. If they were sedentary, then their restricted movement would have translated into weight gain,” Onwuka said.
Olufemi Onifade, a professor of Forage and Agronomy explains, “for those who may want to go into cattle ranching, it is an encompassing business which requires a large area of land depending on the number of animals likely to be kept.
When the land has been acquired, it is important to have feed for the animals. One of the feeds they can provide for the animals is through growing grasses for pasture. They can plant the grasses depending on the number of animals and the grazing method they want to adopt.”
