Fodder production can ensure improved livelihood, food security — Experts

Agriculture experts have said that capacity building on commercial fodder production and value chain addition, organised for livestock farmers and other actors in the livestock value chain in Kwara state, is capable of ensuring food security and improved livelihood.

Speaking separately at the end of a five-day capacity building for 100 livestock farmers on fodder production, organized by the Kwara L-PRES, World Bank and Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA), packaged by SG Imperial Concept Limited, the experts also said that fodder production activities are capable of addressing persistent farmers/herders’ clashes in various parts of the country.

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One of the state officers of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), Mallam Nureni Razaq, who said that fodder production can lead to enhanced livestock productivity and improved livelihood for farmers, added that it will eradicate poverty when commercialized by farmers.

“Fodder production is food for the animals. There are incessant farmer/herders clashes because animals are competing with humans for food. So, by the time we have farmers going fully into fodder production, that’s employment for them. It will reduce clashes because pastoralists now know where to source feeds for their animals and reduce pressure on human food.

“For the commercial aspect of the training, we all know that agriculture is now business. So, by the time people go into fodder production, it would impact quality feeds for the animals and improve livestock production,” he said.

Also speaking, Dr Abdulhakeem Ajeigbe of the Centre for Dryland Agriculture, Bayero University Kano (BUK), said that the participants were trained in both theory and practical aspects of fodder production, adding that they were taught how to process fodder from various crop residue into livestock feeds, including forest trees.

“They were also trained on how to market what they produce and store and look for a market for their products, as well as storage facilities that are needed.

“For instance, we showed them how to produce salt lake locally, at the cost of N4,000. This is about N16,000 per 10kilo in the market now. They’re also trained to form clusters and market what they produce among such clusters until they grow bigger. There’s lots of money to be made in agriculture value chain and mechanization and there are machines, both locally made and imported, to make things easier and interesting.

“Meanwhile, in the next 25 years, Nigeria’s population will be 300 million. If we’re to feed those people, then we must mechanize, intensify and commercialize agriculture. And youth and women must participate, get food for us, create wealth and get jobs from it. It’s through this kind of capacity building we will get the food security we’re talking about.”

According to one of the participants, Abdulraheem Yahaya Onipe, a retired deputy director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, he said that the training would afford livestock farmers to be able to feed their animals at minimal cost.

“Nigeria’s land continues to shrink with increasing population and infrastructural activities and we’re expected to produce and eat food. How? Unless we are involved in smart agriculture, which is what this training is giving. Livestock farmers would be able to feed their animals at minimal cost.

“Should only 30 to 40% of the participants take it as business, the sky would be their limit because they would add a lot of value and encourage many into fodder production as a means of livelihood. There’s a growing market for goats and bulls, you know,” he said.

He said that L-PRES is a World Bank project, explaining that it is its second time in Nigeria.

“With this second coming, Nigeria has taken a step to create a federal ministry of livestock development. This shows livestock had suffered defects when it was part of general agriculture. But now with the creation of the ministry, individual activities under livestock can be looked into and budget allocation made.

“We had not managed our livestock very well in terms of production activities, attention, proper feeds etc. as you see animals scavenge around for free feeds,” he said.