By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has flagged off the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), a six-year $500m food security programme supported by the World Bank and the Federal Government.
Both the Federal Government and World Bank commended the Governor for providing quality leadership and platforms for livestock value chain production and commercialisation in the state.
The administration has invested in the development of the livestock sector to maximise its potential, particularly in beef and dairy production, the Governor said at the flag off.
“Kwara has a comparative advantage in all areas of livestock production, particularly in beef and dairy production. It serves as forms of income and wealth for families to better access financial services. It is a major form of financial instrument to families, especially now that we are talking about financial inclusion, improvement in standard of living, and improving our GDP in the state,” he added.
“This is why our focus has been on developing, upgrading, and transforming the economy in terms of livestock development. This has had positive impacts on smallholder farmers while also reducing farmer-herder conflict in the state.
“We aim to ensure that the smallholder farmers become commercial farmers so that they can respond to demand for quality food from the urban centres, climate change, contribution to global economy and also ensure that families have adequate supply of animal protein and improved livelihood.
“For these reasons, our administration keyed into programmes like the special agro processing zone and livestock productivity and resilience support project that we are flagging off today.
“Indeed, the utmost objective is in line with our administration’s vision of uplifting the vulnerable, improving the activities of smallholder farmers, providing critical infrastructure for modern livestock production and also mitigating the clash between pastoralists and crop farmers.”
AbdulRazaq called for an improved coordination and synergy for the design and implementation of SAP-Z and L-PRES, given the similarities of the projects.
“We should also work alongside RAAMP (Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project) to make sure we deliver. We will strive to engage more progressively to make sure we deliver this project on time,” he added.
Commissioner for Agriculture Oloruntoyosi Adebayo Thomas said Kwara has hit positive milestones in the project because of the commitment of the Governor, adding: “It is not every state that has the privilege of high profile projects like PRESS and SAPZ, but due to the visionary leadership of His Excellency and the processes and policies that he has put in place, we are able to qualify and meet the very stringent requirements of these developmental projects.”
The L-PRES National Project Coordinator said they are excited at the enthusiasm so far shown by Governor AbdulRazaq to revamp and provide platforms for upgrading and modernisation of livestock value chain in the state.
The objectives of L-PRES development objective are to improve productivity, commercialisation, and resilience of targeted livestock value chain in Nigeria as well as strengthen the resilience of livelihood affected by farmers herders conflict, he added.