Kwara State has showcased its achievements in livestock development at the conclusion of the World Bank-supported Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) Implementation Support Mission (ISM) in Yola, Adamawa State.
The mission was organised to assess project progress, identify and address operational challenges and strengthen coordination among the Federal Government, participating states, the World Bank and other stakeholders to ensure effective implementation and achievement of the project’s development objectives.
During his presentation, the Kwara State Project Coordinator, Mr Olusoji Oyawoye, highlighted key interventions undertaken by the project to improve livestock productivity and strengthen infrastructure across the state.
Among the achievements were the rehabilitation of a solar-powered cold-chain facility and the construction of solar-powered boreholes equipped with watering troughs at various locations across the state.
Oyawoye also disclosed that the project had rehabilitated existing boreholes, mapped 683 kilometres of livestock routes and supported the development of more than 190 hectares of commercial pasture through local farmers.
He explained that the interventions were designed to ensure year-round access to feed and water for livestock while reducing potential conflicts between farmers and herders.
Other achievements highlighted included the construction and installation of a 60-tonne cold-storage facility, as well as the provision of water facilities in livestock markets and pastoralist settlements.
The state project coordinator further noted that the project had rehabilitated cold-chain facilities and slaughter slabs, while the installation of waste-management facilities was ongoing.
He added that 300 butchers had been trained in waste management, while more than 230,000 animals had been vaccinated to promote hygienic practices and improve animal health across the state’s livestock industry.
Declaring the mission open, the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, described L-PRES as a significant component of the Federal Government’s efforts to transform Nigeria’s livestock sector, noting that its interventions were already producing results in participating states.
He urged project teams to use the mission to assess implementation, address areas requiring improvement and ensure that investments translated into sustainable benefits for livestock farmers and other actors across the value chain.
Also speaking, the World Bank Task Team Leader for L-PRES, Dr Manievel Emmanuel Sene, said the mission focused on socialisation, orientation, learning and reviewing progress in project implementation.
Sene explained that the mission provided an opportunity for federal and state project teams to share experiences, identify successful approaches, discuss implementation challenges and apply lessons learned to improve project delivery.
In his welcome address, the National Project Coordinator of L-PRES, Dr Sanusi Abubakar, said the project was making progress across key areas of the livestock value chain, including animal health services, infrastructure development, water provision, pasture and feed production, livestock production systems and market access.
Abubakar noted that growing interest from additional states was encouraging but stressed that it also placed greater responsibility on the project to maintain the quality of its interventions and strengthen implementation.
The mission concluded with an on-the-spot assessment of L-PRES project sites in Adamawa State to evaluate ongoing interventions and review progress towards achieving the project’s objectives.
