Nigeria has urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Sahel countries to take deliberate steps in advancing livestock development programmes to boost productivity across the region.
The call came as ECOWAS opened discussions on strategies to improve agricultural productivity and strengthen the resilience of agro-pastoral systems in West Africa and the Sahel.
The regional body held a two-day Policy Dialogue Workshop in Abuja to evaluate the results of the PRISMA Project and align them with agricultural priorities for the sub-region.
Speaking at the opening session, Mr. Peter Alike, Director, Technical Office of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, said the livestock sector remains underdeveloped in West Africa and the Sahel, requiring intentional action and regional cooperation to transform it.
He stressed that, “Deliberate action is needed because the government is aware that livestock production in this country—and indeed across West Africa and the Sahel—is still at a very rudimentary stage and far below the required level.”
“We cannot do it alone, and you cannot do it alone. If we put our hands together, then we will be able to really bring our competitiveness out to increase productivity.
“But this is not the kind of thing that you want to do by yourself. The first thing to be done is collaboration. This is the time that we need each other the most.”
On Nigeria’s deliberate plan to improve the contribution from the sector, Alike said that the sector’s current contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is in the region of $32 billion.
He further disclosed that Nigeria’s strategic plan for the livestock sector, which runs from 2025 to 2030, aims to increase its GDP contribution from the current $32 billion to between $74 billion and $94 billion.
He said, “We have a strategic plan which is going to run from 2025 to 2030. And we have a basket of livestock contribution in GDP, which is currently at about $32 billion.
“And our mission is, in the next 10 years, we want to take, there is a baseline, a base anticipation of $4 billion, and then, of course, a high expectation of about $9-$4 billion. We believe that if you actually look at the entire value chain of livestock in Nigeria here today, we are far in excess of that. So we are even trying to recapture our actual contribution.
“So it’s for us, about where you are and where you want to be by this time. And if we do that, then we will be able to feed ourselves well. If we can feed ourselves well, we will be able to extend into the West African region.”
He explained that Nigeria plans to develop the livestock industry for national food security, job creation, and rural income generation.
Mr. Alike said the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Livestock Development by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reflects the government’s deliberate action towards strengthening the livestock sub-sector and driving national development.
Mr. Alike also underscored the importance of collaboration between Nigeria, ECOWAS, and other regional actors in achieving shared agricultural and food security goals.
In his remarks, the Acting Executive Director of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (ARAA), Mr. Konlani Kanfitin, reaffirmed ECOWAS’ commitment to advancing livestock development and research collaboration in the region.
He expressed appreciation to the European Union (EU) and the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID) for co-financing the PRISMA Project (Research and Innovation for Productive, Resilient, and Healthy Agro-Pastoral Systems in West Africa), which promotes climate-adapted, research-based innovations in the livestock sector.
According to him, the PRISMA Project aligns with ECOWAS’ regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP), which seeks to transform agricultural and food systems across the region.
Mr. Kanfitin emphasised the importance of policy dialogue as a lever for coherence, strategic orientation, participatory governance, and regional integration.
He said, “The livestock sector occupies a central place in the economies of our member states. It contributes to food security, job creation, and the income of millions of rural households.
“This policy dialogue workshop constitutes a key moment for reflection and collective action; it is intended as a space for discussions and decision-making to improve the policy environment for research and innovation to increase the productivity and resilience of agro-pastoral systems in West Africa and the Sahel,” he noted.
In his remarks, Agricultural Engineer and PRISMA Researcher, Dr. Fernando Escribano, highlighted the project’s focus on tackling aflatoxins in livestock feed.
He described aflatoxins as metabolic byproducts of fungi and bacteria that can grow in the field and during storage when high moisture and temperature conditions allow, stressing the need for standard methods to control their presence in livestock feed.
“This is the scenario that we had when we started this project. We decided to focus because aflatoxins don’t have borders. Environmental impact doesn’t have borders. So, we decided to go with a harmonization exercise. We need to harmonize and define what equality is,” Dr. Escribano explained.
“We need to avoid the presence of aflatoxins in our feeds. We need to know how to sample to detect aflatoxins. We need to know how to measure aflatoxins in a relatively simple way, but in a way that we all agree can be done,” he added.
ECOWAS member states held a two-day Policy Dialogue Workshop for the Valuation of PRISMA Project Results in the Regional Agricultural Priorities of West Africa and the Sahel, in Abuja.
PRISMA (West Africa)-A research and innovation project that focused on regional agricultural priorities, particularly livestock development, in the region.
The PRISMA policy dialogue workshop was organized under the framework of ECOWAS’s regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP)
The event was co-financed and technically supported by the European Union (EU), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Luxembourg Cooperation, Belgian Cooperation, and Spanish Cooperation.
The project aims to produce several results of research and innovation that take into account regional priorities in terms of productivity and competitiveness of value chains, food security, education, youth employment, climate change, and regency.
