THE President Donkey Dealers Association (DDA), Mr Ifeanyi Dike has explained that the donkey value chain has the potential to create an initial 500,000 jobs if it gets the necessary support from government and private sector.
Dike who spoke with Nigerian Tribune also stated that in donkey business, there are about eleven economic value chains from the point of purchase to the final supplier or exporter, which if properly utilised, each value chain can create about 2 million jobs.
Furthermore, he stated that the donkey dealers are going into full breeding of the animal which will allay the fears of many on the animal going into extinction.
“In the next five years, the Donkey Dealers Association of Nigeria is expected to go into breeding and ranching and abide by the regulatory scheme or project of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture under the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).
“Also, to create employment and stop the activities of the smugglers which are sabotaging the economy. So within these five years, we will be fully engaged in a very aggressive way of trying to put the narrative of what Donkey Dealers Association has as its mandate like breeding and ranching, creation of employment and making government gain through the regulation of exportation of donkey products.
“The donkey industry is so large that we can’t exhaust its productivity or job creation, within these five years; we can create about 500,000 jobs for a start, because our investors are still waiting for us and we are waiting for them to meet our conditions.
“The moment these investors hit the ground, the employment rate will skyrocket to millions of jobs, because starting from the purchasing point to the final supplier or the exporter, it is about 11 economic value chain which each is capable of creating about 2 million jobs if properly harnessed”, he said.
Speaking on what donkey value chain can contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Dike said the figures will definitely change from 0 to 1 because this will be the first time Nigeria is trying to go into diversification using donkey as a focal point.
“So, whatever the livestock industry has been recording, the donkey is coming to power, and definitely it is going to affect the digit of our GDP in the industry”, he said.
“Almost all the donkeys slaughtered in Nigeria are gotten from neighbouring countries, and we have started our ranching and breeding in Nasarawa state, we have about 12 hectares of land there, and we have a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Zaria, they promised us that with the latest reproductive technology system, that the reproduction of donkey can be hastened”, he added.
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