Nigeria Livestock Sector Growth: FG Unveils State-Specific Centres To Drive $74bn Target
The Federal Government has unveiled plans to establish state-specific Livestock Development Centres across the country as part of a broader strategy to transform Nigeria’s livestock sector and boost its contribution to the national economy from $32 billion to at least $74 billion by 2035.
The Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, disclosed this during a press briefing with journalists on Friday in Abuja, explaining that the initiative is anchored on the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS), a 10-pillar roadmap approved by the National Economic Council to address longstanding challenges in the sector and attract large-scale private investment.
According to the minister, the centres, which will be implemented through federal, state and private-sector partnerships, are not intended to be isolated government-run farms but commercially oriented platforms designed to draw significant private capital into areas such as breeding, animal health, processing and cold-chain storage. He said the model would allow participating states to select their preferred livestock species or value chains based on their unique agro-ecology, existing producer base, availability of feed and water resources, market demand, social acceptance and investment potential.
Maiha emphasised that the framework would not impose a uniform livestock value chain across all states, stressing that each state would be free to determine its own priority based on its naturally endowed resources. “The state will freely choose and validate its priority species or value-chain according to its own naturally endowed livestock resources,” he said, adding that the approach was designed to support food and nutrition sovereignty, job and wealth creation, rural development, peacebuilding, social harmony and shared prosperity across the country.
The ministry identified a range of structural challenges currently holding back the sector’s growth, including low genetic quality of livestock, water scarcity, land administration and utilisation difficulties, limited access to quality farm inputs, expensive and scarce feed and fodder, inadequate veterinary and extension services, insecurity, low levels of private investment, and weak infrastructure and logistics. The NL-GAS framework is expected to tackle these gaps systematically while also addressing data management shortfalls and improving the participation of women and youths in the sector.
The latest announcement builds on earlier efforts by the ministry to mobilise resources for the sector’s transformation. In March 2026, the Federal Government, alongside the private sector, had proposed a $50 billion investment initiative aimed at accelerating growth toward the $74 billion target, a development unveiled at a National Stakeholders Roundtable on Transforming the Livestock Sector held in Abuja. At that event, Maiha had stressed that government alone could not drive the transformation, insisting that the future of Nigeria’s livestock sector depends on bold, private sector-led investment across the value chain, with red meat, dairy and leather identified as priority value chains capable of driving job creation, reducing imports and expanding exports.
The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, established as part of the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, has continued to position livestock as a critical pillar of food security and national economic growth. Officials have repeatedly stressed that food security is a component of national security, underscoring the priority being placed on repositioning the sector. The ministry has also urged investors and development partners to explore opportunities in modern ranching, dairy processing, feed production, cold-chain logistics, veterinary pharmaceuticals and digital livestock identification systems as part of the broader push to modernise the industry.
As the Livestock Development Centres roll out across participating states, stakeholders will be watching closely to see how effectively the public-private partnership model translates policy ambitions into measurable growth for a sector long constrained by underinvestment and structural neglect.
About the Author
