The Federal Government has expressed its readiness to collaborate with Livestock and Butchers Cooperative Society Ltd (LIBUCOL) to establish standard abattoirs for proper meat processing.
Alhaji Idi Maiha, Minister of Livestock Development said this during a meeting with a delegation from the cooperative society in Abuja.
Maiha said the establishment of standard abattoirs with cool chain and meat packaging would enable the nations’ animal products compete favourably at the international market.
According to him, through the gesture people can actually go to the supermarkets or stores and get their meat without fear of buying any substandard and unhygienically handled meat pack.
The minister further said that collaboration with the society in abattoir operations would assist in combating zonotic diseases that are prevalent in the livestock sector.
“Under our common purview we want to manage or nip the issue of zoonotic diseases in the bud, if not our meat products cannot compete favourably at the international market.
“We are getting a lot of commitment, interventions by some countries from the middle east to get meat from Nigeria.
“Therefore, if we don’t up our game and ensure an enabling environment for healthy meat and healthy livestock product out of the country we will not be able to get those markets,’’ he said.
The minister identified other areas of collaboration with the society as capacity building, attracting investors to assist the cooperative to establish abattoir for milk processing, transportation of life animals from distance among others.
He emphasised that such collaboration would turn the country’s livestock sector around.
Maiha who said the ministry was established to oversee the information and transformation of the sector emphasised that such transformation could only be achieved through organic collaboration with the cooperative society.
“The ministry has the mandate to genetically improve the nation’s animals, ensure that endemic diseases are controlled and finally eliminated and also ensure that there is more pasture cultivation in the country.
“This will enable our animals have sufficient and quality feed in terms of fodder and encourage feed millers to establish and ensure that both dairy and ruminant in general and other livestock have sufficient and nutritious feed and fodder.
“It is also part of our mandate to create an enabling environment for associations of your type and other investors in the livestock sector to experience ease of business without hindrance,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Ishak Yahaya, President of the society assured the minister of the organisation’s readiness to work closely with the ministry towards the development of the industry across its entire value chain.
Yahaya identified strategies crucial for a thriving livestock development in the country as communication and transparency, collaboration, joint advocacy, standardisation and grading, technology and efficiency among others.
He said the ministry and the society could collaborate to advocate for policies that would be of immense benefit to the sector through lobbying for improved infrastructure and streamlined regulations.
“Such partnership will ultimately lead to a more efficient, transparent and prosperous development.
“We want to work with the ministry to establish consistent standards for grading products, this will improve market transparency and reduce disputes,” he said.
The president, tasked the ministry on investment on user-friendly technology describing it as key to the current trend as well as an aid to one stop shop environment.
