Once the lockdown eases President Buhari should organise a Global Livestock Conference in Abuja

Ayo Akinfe

(1) He should use it as an opportunity to announce to the whole world that Nigeria is open for business and in search of investors in the animal husbandry business

(2) Like the Paris Climate agreement, it should set goals for global livestock and animal feed production with the aim of ensuring every human has access to meat and a sufficient protein diet

(3) It should abolish open grazing international as it is an environmental hazard that threatens to destroy the countryside and leads to farmer/herder clashes

(4) This summit should also set the standards for animal welfare and safety. It should make check-ups and immunisation compulsory for instance

(5) President Buhari should also use the summit as an opportunity to get the industrialised world to commit a minimum amount of investment in the animal husbandry industries of the developing world

(6) This summit should also mandate every country to tag all its livestock so they can all be traced

(7) This summit should hold a Ranch of the Year Award annually where pastoralists who run the best ranches are recognised

(8) Nigeria’s government should work flat out to attract every major player in the global animal feed industry to the summit. It should also try to get every Fulani herdsmen to attend as such exposure will elevate their cultural level

(9) At the summit, it should be agreed that exchange visits would take place. This should involve Nigerian pastoralists visiting leading livestock producers like Canada, Argentina, Brazil, the US, Australia, etc annually to learn best practices

(10) Nigeria should use the summit as a platform to announce minimum foreign direct investment targets. Maybe start off with $1bn in the first year