The Federal Government has identified vast opportunities across Nigeria’s livestock value chains that could create sustainable employment for young people and women, as part of efforts to reposition the sector as a major driver of economic growth and social mobility.
The Honourable Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, disclosed this on Thursday, August 13, 2026, during a meeting with the Technical Adviser to the Vice President on Women and Youth Engagement and Impact in Abuja.
Maiha outlined opportunities across meat, dairy, leather, feed production, animal health, transportation, processing and other livestock-related businesses, stressing the need to develop interconnected value chains rather than rely on isolated interventions.
He explained that a single investment, such as a modern abattoir, could generate employment across several stages of the value chain, including cattle production, feed and pasture development, veterinary services, transportation, meat processing, cold-chain storage and distribution.
According to the Minister, an abattoir processing about 500 bulls daily could generate up to 10,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities across its associated value chain.
Maiha also identified dairy production as an area with significant potential for women, particularly through a distributed production model that allows women to keep dairy animals at household level while aggregators provide access to feed, animal health services and markets.
He said the arrangement would enable women to generate regular income from milk production without having to manage the entire dairy value chain individually.
The Minister stressed that the Ministry’s focus was on establishing systems that make livestock enterprises commercially viable and sustainable, rather than simply distributing livestock or providing financial support without adequate market linkages.
He cited livestock fattening schemes as an example, noting that although some beneficiaries had successfully sold animals provided to them after receiving training and support, stronger controls, structured production systems and guaranteed off-takers were necessary to sustain such interventions.
“We need to establish feedlot estates,” Maiha said, explaining that such facilities could integrate animal fattening, pasture production, feed supply, veterinary services and guaranteed off-take arrangements.
He further identified sheep and goat fattening, leather and skin collection, dairy processing and the utilisation of livestock by-products as areas with significant employment and investment potential.
The Minister noted that Nigeria’s livestock sector currently loses substantial economic value due to limited processing and value addition. He cited the Mai Gateri livestock market as an example, where large volumes of animals are traded weekly without corresponding value addition.
Maiha also reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to practical training, stressing that livestock education must combine classroom instruction with substantial field experience.
“For us in livestock, training in our colleges should be 30 percent classroom and 70 percent field experience,” he said, emphasising that functional farms should be integral to livestock training institutions.
He called on development partners and private-sector investors to collaborate with the Ministry in developing pilot projects and scaling up viable models across Nigeria’s livestock value chains.
Maiha said the opportunities extended beyond primary production to processing and manufacturing, including meat and milk processing, leather production, feed manufacturing, cold-chain logistics and the conversion of animal waste into energy and fertiliser.
Earlier, the Technical Adviser to the Vice President on Women and Youth Engagement and Impact, Hajia Hauwa Lima, said her visit was aimed at strengthening strategic engagement with the Ministry and other stakeholders in the livestock value chain to develop entrepreneurial support systems for about 500 Nigerian youths and women.
She said the initiative was focused on encouraging young entrepreneurs to participate actively in the agricultural and livestock value chains.
Lima informed the Minister that she had visited seven States — Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Oyo and Katsina — across four geopolitical zones to conduct surveys on the entrepreneurial support needs and expectations of youths and women from the government.
She further disclosed that the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, had directed stronger engagement with relevant stakeholders and development partners ahead of the 2026 Arewa Agric and Innovative Summit (AAIS).
According to her, the summit is expected to bring together Nigerian youth and women entrepreneurs, policymakers and sector development partners to strengthen collaboration and promote sustainable growth in Nigeria’s livestock sector.
