Sheep, goat value chain: Gombe targets 5,150 farmers

Speaking during the official flag off and roll out of Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) for the sheep and goat value chain in Gombe, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dahiru Buba Biri, said the programme is a milestone in government’s drive to modernize and commercialize agriculture and ensure that farmers  are well positioned and targeted by the […]

Speaking during the official flag off and roll out of Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) for the sheep and goat value chain in Gombe, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dahiru Buba Biri, said the programme is a milestone in government’s drive to modernize and commercialize agriculture and ensure that farmers  are well positioned and targeted by the programme.
Under the programme, 150 farmers for ram fattening and 5,000 from health care will all benefit with each of the farmers in ram fattening receiving 10 bags of finished feeds at 50 percent of the total cost amounting to N18, 000, while farmers from the health care will get 10 millilitres of Acaricide and 100 millilitres of de-wormer free of charge.
According to Biri, the objective of the intervention is to see how government can increase the tonnage of meat drive from sheep and goats from the present 440,000 tons to 585,000 tons and also increase their population from 92 million to 115 million in the country within the next 2 to 3 years.
“It has become imperative to do things differently to employ strategies that will help enable the nation’s sheep and goats to deliver its potential promise of improved supply of wholesome meat, food security, jobs and wealth creation and the much needed foreign exchange,” he said.