….Lagos consumes N1.8bn worth of livestock daily
Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has projected its current efforts to create a structured market for the livestock business in the country, through a bankable standard business model, have the potential of increasing the value of Nigeria’s livestock market to about N2 trillion yearly.
The Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr. Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed, made the projection when the second cattle train of fifteen wagons left Nguru, Yobe state for Oko-Oba, Lagos last Thursday in Lagos in continuation of the company, recently launched project to transport cattle by rail from the north to the south.
The journey is estimated to last two days compared to the five to six days it normally takes to cover the distance by road.
The project, operated by Connect Rail Services Ltd, an indigenous bulk freight and logistics company as technical partner, is part of NIRSAL’s Farm to Market scheme designed to achieve a low cost and efficient transport link between agric producers across the country.
The scheme is projected to reduce the cost of transporting cattle from the north to the south by over 20 percent, minimize injury and death of cattle while in transit and also preserve 100% of their value so that livestock breeders can get good price for their produce at the destination markets.
Speaking on the development, Abdulhameed said the initiative was a practical demonstration of NIRSAL’s mandate to provide guarantees so that banks can be encouraged to finance impactful projects along the agric value chain.
“I am really excited at the progress that we are making on this project which is designed to maximize the current value of the North-South livestock trade, estimated at N950 billion to about N1.8trn per annum. NIRSAL will execute this project, first, by fixing, end-end, the entire trade livestock value chain through upgrading the performance of its 3 components comprising Breeding, Trading and Logistics then guaranteeing the flow of affordable commercial finance to identified actors and enterprises within the “fixed” value chain.