The National President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Baba Othman has appealed to the Nigerian government to consider the peculiarities of its herding population before rolling out ranching policies.
Othman, who spoke on Arise News’ The Morning Show on Wednesday, was reacting to a recent directive mandating all herders to operate from ranches under the new Ministry of Livestock Development.
He explained that the ministry was created out of decades of agitation by livestock stakeholders who felt neglected under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
“We are part of the group that agitated for the creation of livestock ministry in this country because we have never had one before. All these while, we have been existing under a mere ministry, the federal ministry of agriculture where attention has been shifted totally to agronomy, neglecting the livestock sector over the decades,” Othman said.
According to him, while the government’s ranching policy could transform the sector and improve livelihoods, it cannot succeed without recognising the realities of the people involved.
“Ranch has so many models, we have to involve a model that can suit the pastoralists that we have in this country. We have a pastoral population that is close to 30 million that is not mostly educated and not practicing the perimeters of animal husbandry.
“They inherited it from their forefathers because there was no attempt by the first administration to educate them and modernise the trade,” he explained.
Othman stressed that for many herders, cattle rearing was more than an economic activity but a cultural heritage and a way of life.
He urged policymakers to design ranching models that reflect these dynamics rather than importing foreign solutions.
“They are doing it as a source of livelihood and a way of life, so one has to understand these peculiarities and dynamics of the animal husbandry before you sit down and involve a model that can suit them,” he counselled.
He, however, acknowledged that settling pastoralists in designated areas remained inevitable as population growth, shrinking land, and environmental challenges continued to fuel conflicts.
