Delegates resolve grazing reserves controversy

The session had become rowdy on Wednesday after the deputy chairman of the conference Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, who was presiding called for the adoption of a recommendation that says “grazing reserves or ranches and new technologies such as hydroponic fodder solution be promoted by the government and affected stakeholders as well as dedicate funds/efforts for […]

The session had become rowdy on Wednesday after the deputy chairman of the conference Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, who was presiding called for the adoption of a recommendation that says “grazing reserves or ranches and new technologies such as hydroponic fodder solution be promoted by the government and affected stakeholders as well as dedicate funds/efforts for the acculturation/ acclimatization of herdsmen in settling down to designated grazing reserves and less nomadic lifestyles.”
The matter was stepped down and was taken up yesterday in the form of a new motion which was agreed at plenary.
Delegates agreed that “an integrated development and livelihoods modernization program be designed and implemented to address the issue of settling nomadic herdsmen into settled communities based on established cattle ranches with fodder development technologies, and including abattoirs, processors and other businesses along livestock value chain.
“That this integrated development and modernization programme should be funded by both federal and state governments in states where such settlements are established, and that this integrated development programme should be undertaken and wrapped up within a period of five to 10 years after which such settlements should have become self-sustaining with the full integration of the nomadic herdsmen community into modern Nigeria political economy.”