The Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, NIAS, has disclosed that the nation’s livestock industry could be adopted into a major revenue source for the country with the application of technology and innovations.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of NIAS, Prof Eustace Iyayi, stated this at a press conference
ahead of its annual holding in November in Abuja with the theme, “Improved Technology: A key Strategy for Enhanced Livestock Productivity and National Economic Development”.
Ajayi
stated: “The growth of Nigeria animal husbandry has been stunted, aggravated by
the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of necessary support, despite the large
number of trained animal scientists, with 6000 registered with the Nigerian
Institute of Animal Science and the huge potential for youth employment and
indeed national economic rebirth.” He said the value of the industry currently
stands at about N13 trillion.
Speaking
further, Ajayi stated: “The animal scientist believes that in order to arrest
youth restiveness and perennial farmer-herder conflict in the post-COVID-19
period, the application of technology and innovation to promote production,
processing and agricultural trade thought effective competitiveness, market
access and penetration that will positively affect our national economy is a
sine qua non.”
He
lamented high import bills on animal products and its derivatives despite
Nigeria’s comparative advantage, a situation he said is not sustainable due to
dwindling foreign exchange earnings.
“Therefore,
the outcome of the discussion at the meeting will be useful for policy alignment by
government to help engender developmental research, innovation platforms and
practitioners’ engagement that will stimulate interaction for economic
renaissance with animal agriculture as a pivot,” he concluded.
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