The Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu on Tuesday declared that the ban on open grazing would benefit all the stakeholders in the livestock business value chain when the operation begins.
The ban on open grazing which has been a controversial issue in the country recently was among the resolutions made by the Southern Governors’ Forum, at a meeting held in Asaba, Delta State.
Akeredolu, who insisted that the ban on open grazing had come to stay, disclosed that the legislative process was ongoing at the State House of Assembly, to make it a law.
The governor stated this at the opening of a three-day training programme, on the Feedlot Operational System of cattle rearing, held in Akure, the state capital. The programme was organised in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Agriculture and Agric-business, Mr Akin Olotu, the governor maintained that so many benefits could be derived from the Feedlot Operational System, which, according to him, was a variant of ranching.
He said, ” We can not continue with open grazing, forget about herders/farmers clash, let’s talk about the cattle themselves, it is not in the interest of the cattle and also the herders. The herders are subjected to a permanent life of living in the jungle. So when you are talking about a ban on open grazing, it is also in the interest of our brothers in the northern part of the country.
“Today, our farmers have been driven out of their traditional occupations occasioned by herders’ harassment, many lives have been lost, many of our women raped and deprived. Billions of Naira worth of crops were ravaged and the country has continued to be confronted with a constant threat to national security as a result of the activities of the nomadic herders. All these put together informed our administration’s decision to lead the campaign to return to the good old days of the Feedlot Operational System of keeping livestock.
Furthermore, it is an indisputable fact that the culture of moving large herds of cattle from one part of the country to the other in this 21st century is barbaric, antiquated, old-fashioned and has in recent years been enormously unbeneficial because of its threat to national security, cohesion, and food security.
“Therefore, it is with a sense of pride that I say that our administration deemed it expedient to revamp and reintroduce ranching with support from the Federal Government.”
In his remarks, the representative of the FAO, Mr Fred Kafeero, said the organization would support the state government to raise the technical capacities of investors in livestock to conduct a business-oriented livestock production.