The Federal Government has entered into an agreement with an international dairy consultancy, Cownexxion of Netherlands, to roll out four cattle ranches in select northern states.
The Chief Executive of Cownexxion, Klaas Struiksma, disclosed this on his LinkedIn page on Thursday.
By the agreement, Cownexxion will work with the Federal Government of Nigeria to jumpstart the ambitious National Livestock Transformation Plan.
The contract entails setting up pilot cattle ranches in Nasarawa, Plateau, Gombe and Adamawa States.
According to Struiksma, the set up ranches will serve as a training centre for farmers and extension workers in the vicinity.
“The Training of Trainers program will also take place on the pilot farms. The focus in the 3 year project will be on feed production, development of knowledge and skills and the transformation of management,” he said.
Struiksma further disclosed that the Dutch Agricultural industry is involved in the project through an Impact Cluster supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
Other members of the consortium include Aeres Group , Agriterra Dairy Delta Academy, Scherjon Dairy Equipment, Barenbrug South Africa, Dutch Sustainable Energy Group, and Queens Company, he disclosed.
The National Livestock Transformation Plan has been in the pipeline for some time as a solution to the incessant clashes between farmers and cattle herders. It is believed that the recent surge in the clashes and cattle-herding related criminalities might have led to the activation of the plan now.
The plan will see to the creation of different sizes of cattle ranches in a period of 10 years.
