Twenty-two states and the Federal Capital Territory have registered for the National Livestock Transformation Programme (NLTP).
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Mohammad Sabo Nanono, who disclosed this on Thursday at the 44th National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja, said out of this number, 10 states had created their teams which had been trained by the federal office.
The NLTP was aimed to seeks permanent a solution to the frequent farmers-herders crisis through the establishment of grazing reserves, among others, for the herders.
‘’Seven of these 10 states have also earmarked about 19 grazing reserves for the implementation of the NLTP with a total land size of approximately 400,000 hectares” he said.
“ Loans shall be granted to Nigerian entrepreneurs to establish service centres across all the 774 local governments of the country, selling services to all categories of farmers and thereby helping to improve their productivity.”
Nanono said the government had entered into a partnership with Brazilian technology transfer institution, the Fundacao Getulio Vargas on agricultural mechanisation resulting in a loan of €995m to be distributed to Nigerian agro-entrepreneurs soon.
