Invest in livestock farming to fight poverty, L-PRES urges Kwarans
The Kwara State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) has engaged the livestock producer organisation (Mekunnu People’s Forum) in a meeting on the scope and implementation of the project in the state.
The Informant247 gathered that the meeting, held during the week, was part of the strategies to enlighten the producer organisation and individual livestock entrepreneurs for small-size production and post-production investment in the livestock business in the state.
Mr. Olusoji Oyawoye, the State Project Coordinator, while speaking at the organisation’s livestock farm in Ilorin, said that livestock farming is no longer a cultural practice but a profitable business that must be handled with all manners of seriousness for improved productivity and increased income.
The Coordinator, who was represented by the Project Value Chain and Market Linkage Officer, Mr Oluwaseyi Dara, said part of the project components is to enhance the selected value chain of livestock production and businesses.
The project, according to the coordinator, also requires support for markets and market linkage development through the establishment and upgrading of livestock markets, the development of market information systems, and the strengthening of the producers for improved market access.
He urged the organisation’s leadership to intensify efforts in sensitising their members and other unemployed individuals on the potential of livestock farming to fight poverty in the country.
Highlighting some of the benefits of the L-PRES Project in the country, Mr Oyawoye said the project development objectives are to improve livestock productivity, increase commercialisation and resilience of targeted livestock production systems, and respond to crises in the sector.
In his remarks, the Coordinator of Mekunnu People’s Forum, Mr Muhammed Ottan, said the organisation was established to complement the state government’s efforts in empowering vulnerable groups, especially the women and youths, by acquiring special skills to improve their livelihood.
Mr Ottan, while commending the state government for keying into the L-PRES Project, given its potential to transform the livelihood of the value chain operators and the livestock sector, said that the forum is into humanitarian services, using livestock (goat and sheep) to empower the people to be self-sufficient and assist others in return.
