NEC forms committee to fast-track livestock reforms

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Wednesday established a committee to fast-track livestock development initiatives across Nigeria, targeting reforms that could resolve the persistent farmer-herder crisis and bolster national food security.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who chairs the NEC, speaking at the 155th virtual NEC meeting, stressed that only “practical, enduring, and nationally accepted solutions” to the clashes can secure the country’s food supply. He described food security as a “moral obligation” undermined by years of violence.

The new Livestock Development Committee draws one representative from each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones: Bauchi (North-East), Niger (North-Central), Ondo (South-West), Imo (South-East), Cross River (South-South), and Kebbi (North-West), with Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi as chair. It also includes the Ministers of Livestock Development, Agriculture and Food Security, Budget and Economic Planning, plus the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness from the Vice President’s office.

According to a statement issued by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, NEC tasked the committee with reviewing recommendations from the Presidential Livestock Reform Committee (PLRC) and the Ministry of Livestock Development’s proposals, while identifying willing states for pilot implementations. This follows President Bola Tinubu’s 10 December 2025 directive at the Federal Executive Council meeting, urging NEC to partner with the ministry on a livestock industry roadmap.

Shettima lamented the crisis’s toll in his opening remarks: “We must acknowledge with absolute regret the deep distrust created by this violence, born out of a trade and an ancestral practice that ought to have remained a central pillar of our food security and rural economy. The loss of lives, the destruction of homes, and the devastation of farmlands must end.”

He pinned the escalation on “mismanagement of long-standing tensions,” turning coexistence challenges into nationwide violence that “respects no geography” and erodes community trust. Shettima praised Tinubu’s creation of a dedicated Livestock Development Ministry to tap the sector’s potential for economic growth, peace, and rural revival.

The Vice President called on governors to embrace the ministry and PLRC presentations, positioning livestock as a tool for “stabilising our food systems, restoring confidence in rural economies, and reducing security pressures.” He assured priority for their recommendations, seeking state-level buy-in to integrate the sector into Nigeria’s economy.

The reforms aim to modernise livestock production, fostering a “peaceful and profitable engine of national development” and rejecting any false divide between agriculture and security.