Grazing Bill, a Positive Move

 
The bill known as A Bill for an Act for the Establishment of the National Grazing Reserve (Establishment and Development) Commission for the Preservation and Control of National Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes and for Other Matters Connected Therewith, is a thoughtful move towards ending Fulani- farmers clash and diversifying the economy.

Agriculture has been an important sector to Nigeria’s economy. Revenues generated from groundnuts and cotton produce were used to educate generations of Nigerians and helped build a gamut of critical infrastructures solidly standing presently, a feast decades of oil revenues fail to achieve. Benefits derived from agriculture visit every corner of the country shown evidently in school constructions, universities, hospitals, roads, airports, seaports, and railways.

This spells out unambiguously the indispensable role and significance of agriculture in national development. At a time when the world is tilting toward knowledge-based economy as determiner for control and influence in global economic structure, the bill would help secure a place and edge for Nigeria.

A commission would be set up under the bill whose activities would be coordinated by collection of Federal Ministries of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Resources, Health, Environment, Housing and Urban Development, and National Commission for Nomadic Education.

The functions of the Commission includes designating, acquiring, controlling, managing, maintaining the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes; constructing of dams, roads, bridges, fences and infrastructure considered necessary; identification, retracing, demarcating, monumenting, and surveying of primary, secondary, and tertiary stock routes; conserving and preserving in its natural state the National Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes; ensuring the preservation and protection of any object of geological, archaeological, historical aesthetic or scientific value in the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes; the development of facilities and amenities within the National Grazing Reserves; fostering in the mind of the general public, particularly the pastoral and transhumance population, the necessity for the establishment and development of the National Grazing Reserves and Stocks Routes with the objectives of developing a greater appreciation of the value of livestock and environmental conservation.

This initiative supposed to have been long introduced. The program¸ once successfully established, will give stakeholders clear understanding of the clash problem between cattle rearers and farmers and allow them to effectively design measures and steps.

For so many reasons, grazing reserves should be concentrated in northern states as home to Fulani cattle rearers, to settle them down and end the frequent clash with the farmers. The root cause of the struggle is mainly the scarce resources arising from climate change. The region faces threat of growing desertification from the Sahel region via the northern borders. Modern grazing reserve as eco-friendly is one effective measure to countering the menace of spreading desert.

Conducts of human activities are moving along with time, powered by new thinking and approach. Challenges of dairy production in Africa are not unconnected to poor management practices. Commercial and small scale dairy farming will witness massive and radical overhaul. Riding on leveraged technology, farmers and herdsmen raising animals in traditional methods would be exposed to modern farming techniques to help create wealth, jobs, improved productivity, and integrating otherwise informal businesses into the mainstream economy for increased revenues and above all, providing lasting peace between farmer and cattle rearers.

Hundreds of thousands of unemployed people would be engaged at various stages including the need of experts in animal husbandry, nutritionists and specialist veterinarians who got to be employed to monitor health, disease prevention and control. This process will inspire confidence in public health, fostering hygiene and controlling the risk of suspicious meat getting to the public.

The grazing reserves is going to place Nigeria to an important role in meeting the increased demand and combating global challenge in food security. The developing world will feel most the brunt of food insecurity. By creating this program, Nigeria has set out to actively play her role.

Countries across the world less endowed than Nigeria have had success stories practicing modern grazing farming. A version of such program in Nigeria would make dairy production blossom as we are abundantly blessed with great landmass and human resources. The burgeoning dairy industry would enjoy boost to meet the ever growing demand throughout the country and even beyond.

To achieve this, there must be a robust modern butchery system and abattoir facilities put in place by partnered state governments and Livestock Institutes such as what we have in Kano, for training and mentoring of persons likely to set up ranching operations on their own.

The Federal government should supply high-performing cows such as Holstein, Friesian, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Jersey for crossbreeding with local animals. Government should also provide infrastructures for effective distribution process and create easy and effective ways for generating credit facility accompanied by effective assessment process. High-performance should be recognized to encourage efficiency and productivity.

As part of reconstruction program of the northeast, the program can double as poverty eradication initiative by giving off cow per family. The idea is that aggregated productivity and benefits would be calculated in lifting the people off at family and community level.

In line with global effort for food security, organizations such OAU, UNICEF, ECOWAS would be willing to partner with government of Nigeria as the program has a touch in education, archeological and historical concerns, health and economic issues, and community development projects to rhyme with the global effort for sustainable developments.

But I won’t be surprised by guff from some folk who would not bother to read the bill but would cling to their misguided view against the Bill, unable to offer any alternative way. Insisting on restricting the movement of cattle rearers without giving them alternative won’t work. It will keep us in the doom we seek to avoid. Also, it is with caution while taking measures not to violate the rights of others, says democracy. I may assume that the right word that best fits in opposing the bill is CHOICE so that you can choose not have grazing reserve built in your land. Offering alternative is the best possible way of bringing the problem down.