Abuja: The Federal Government of Nigeria and the African Union-Inter African Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) are joining forces to reinforce safe and market-linked livestock mobility across the African region. This collaboration aims to establish a secure and organized system for livestock movement within the continent.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, highlighted the initiative during the Continental Learning Forum on Market-Linked Transhumance Models in West Africa, held in Abuja. The forum, themed ‘Strengthening Safe, Orderly, and Market-Linked Livestock Mobility through Evidence, Cross-Regional Learning, and Investment Partnership’, underscores the shared commitment to developing a resilient livestock sector in West Africa.
Maiha emphasized that Nigeria’s livestock sector is undergoing a strategic transformation under the Renewed Hope Agenda spearheaded by President Bola Tinubu. The establishment of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development signifies a renewed national resolve to enhance the sector’s contributions to national development. The focus is on increasing productivity through improved veterinary services, breed enhancement, and encouraging private sector investments across value chains.
AU-IBAR is implementing various initiatives that are impacting the livestock sector positively, not only in Nigeria but throughout the African continent. Maiha assured that Nigeria is ready to collaborate with other countries in West and Central Africa, and the entire African continent, to achieve shared growth and prosperity. He highlighted the vast potential of the livestock industry and the importance of building systems that are scientifically sound, economically viable, and socially inclusive.
In his remarks, Dr. Huyam Salih, Director of AU-IBAR, represented by Prof. Ahmed Elbeltagy, emphasized that the forum’s theme reflects the evolving needs and realities of pastoral systems across Africa. The aim is to transform pastoral corridors into economic corridors where livestock movement is safe and disease-control systems operate across borders. The forum also seeks to establish environments where information flows efficiently, and both pastoralists and private-sector actors benefit from predictable rules and functioning markets.
Salih pointed out that the ECOWAS Transhumance Protocol and the 2018 Regulation on Transhumance form one of Africa’s most advanced legal frameworks for regulated cross-border mobility. However, he acknowledged that implementation remains uneven due to coordination gaps, insecurity, fragmented policies, and insufficient investment in mobility-aligned market systems.
The forum is not just about policy analysis but about shaping the future, ensuring that mobility is perceived not as a problem but as an economic and ecological system to be strengthened, formalized, and linked to markets. The goal is to create economic corridors where livestock movement is safe, disease-control systems operate effectively, information flows seamlessly, and both pastoralists and private-sector actors thrive under predictable rules and functioning markets.