FG Moves to Align Australian Livestock Investment with National Priorities

Dr. Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi

"All development interventions in Nigeria's livestock sector should be channelled through the Ministry to ensure alignment with national priorities, eliminate duplication of efforts and maximise impact." Akujobi.

.... Says "Our responsibility is to coordinate interventions, identify priority areas and ensure they deliver meaningful results."

The Federal Government has called for stronger coordination between development partners and government institutions as Australia considers investing more than AU$70 million in livestock research and development across selected West African countries, with Nigeria emerging as a priority beneficiary.

The call was made by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, Dr. Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi, during a meeting with a delegation from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in Abuja.

Akujobi stressed that all development interventions in Nigeria's livestock sector should be channelled through the Ministry to ensure alignment with national priorities, eliminate duplication of efforts and maximise impact.

"It is important that organisations seeking to support the livestock sector come through the Ministry. Our responsibility is to coordinate interventions, identify priority areas and ensure they deliver meaningful results," she said.

She emphasised that research must go beyond academic exercise, urging partners to develop effective communication strategies that would enable livestock farmers adopt innovations generated from research.

The Permanent Secretary also requested ACIAR to submit its concept note, implementation timeline, key performance indicators and expected outcomes to enable the proposed programme align with the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) and other policy frameworks.

She further directed relevant departments of the Ministry to establish a technical interface with the Australian team to support the ongoing scoping exercise.

Directors in the Ministry urged ACIAR to expand stakeholder consultations and focus research on critical areas such as animal genetics, disease surveillance, feed and fodder development, livestock data systems, capacity building and postgraduate training for Ministry personnel.

Speaking on behalf of the delegation, ACIAR Senior Initiative Manager, Mr. Wekem Raymond Avatim, said the visit was part of a regional assessment aimed at identifying priority investment areas for livestock development in Nigeria and other West African countries.

According to him, preliminary consultations identified feed shortages, climate change, youth participation, gender inclusion, animal health, vaccine availability and weak institutional coordination as major challenges facing the sector.

Avatim disclosed that the Australian Government is considering an investment exceeding AU$70 million to support research-for-development programmes across selected countries in the region, with Nigeria among the priority nations.

He assured that the organisation would continue consultations with key stakeholders and subject its final scoping report to stakeholder validation before implementation.

The planned collaboration is expected to strengthen livestock research, improve institutional capacity and accelerate the adoption of innovations aimed at boosting productivity, food security and economic growth in Nigeria's livestock sector.