Adamawa gazettes 30 grazing reserves, registers 1.5m cattle – Commissioner

The Adamawa State Government on Sunday said it has gazetted 30 grazing reserves and registered more than 1.5 million herds of cattle in the state.
Dr. Isa Salihu, the state Commissioner for Livestock Development, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Yola.
Salihu said the development was in line with the Federal Government’s effort to establish grazing reserves in the interested states.
He said: “We have 72 grazing reserves in the state, out of which 30 are already gazetted.
“Five thousand hectares of land was allocated to the Federal Government for the establishment of national grazing reserves.
“And the state government is willing to allocate more additional lands for the programme.”
NAN recalls that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, recently visited the state, during which he interacted with various livestock stakeholders to address the problem of farmers/herdsmen clashes.
The commissioner explained that the establishment of grazing reserves and ranches would significantly solve the lingering conflicts between farmers and herders.
Salihu regretted that for quite a long time, livestock departments from federal, state and local government levels in the country were totally neglected.
He said: “Long time negligent of livestock sectors was the cause of frequent conflicts between farmers and cattle rearers being experienced now in the country.
“The only solution to the problem is the establishment of permanent grazing reserves and ranches where the animals would be restricted from roaming.”
Salihu observed that with the recent development, Adamawa State, which is the leading state in cattle production in the country, would advance to diversify its internally generated revenue toward meat, milk, chess butter, hide and skin production.
He confirmed that the state government has already doubled its 2016 livestock budgetary allocation by 200 per cent.
NAN.