Why It’s Difficult To Stop Open Grazing –-----MACBAN National Scribe

National Secretary of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Alhaji Bello Aliyu Gotomo has explained the difficulties in stopping open grazing across the country, saying that the practice would continue because of the cost implication of ranching.

Gotomo said that Fulani herdsmen understand the importance of ranching, but cannot stop open grazing due to the inherent difficulties associated with ranching, particularly on sourcing feed and water for the cows when confined in a particular area. 

Gotomo spoke in an interview with reporters when he led a delegation of the national executive of the association to inaugurate the south east chapter of MACBAN, in Enugu Tuesday.  

He, however noted that with the establishment of the Ministry of Livestock and the recent launch of pasture planting in Gwari council Area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, there was hope about both local and imported pastures, as well as hopes for abundant grasses and cereals to ensure the availability of livestock feed. 

According to him, the major role of MACBAN was to liaise with constituted authorities, traditional rulers, and community leaders, to ensure the welfare of pastoralists, adding that they were also, expected to live peacefully with farmers and community members even as they would their members were enlightened to embark on modern methods of livestock production and contribute to the development of the nation's economy.

His words, “Some states have established anti-open grazing laws but did not work. Pastoralism is a way of life and tradition and culture is attached to it, so there is no way it can be discarded overnight. It’s going to be done over a period of time. 

"We cannot adopt ranches easily because ranching is a capital intensive activity. It’s just like asking the local farmers to throw away their cutlasses, their hoe and just convert to mechanized farming, it’s not possible overnight. So we agreed that our people have to be motivated to embrace the modern means of livestock production.

“We are also aware that the population of the country has increased from 1960 to date, from 56 million to over 200 million people and a lot of infrastructural developments have evolved and overtaken these fallow lands, the grazing and forest reserves, but nevertheless we cannot just turn to ranching because it’s not just possible, but we agree to adopt overtime the new methodologies of live production.

“With the current creation of the federal ministry of livestock production which many states have adopted, we are doing very well. The major challenge in livestock pastoralism is the feed and the water and now we are going to ensure that there is modern form of production, commercial forms of production, that people produce feeds in the period of scarcity.

“We also want to control the movements because if the movements are controlled, the animals will be fatter, they will produce more milk and our people will go to school. "We are conversant with that and we are doing a lot to ensure that those that are not interest in seeing livestock farmers, should know that livestock farmers are Nigerians and that they have the right. 

"If you can have an aeroplane manufactured from abroad and you give it a land to fly, why don’t you give indigenous livestock which is an old age business and there is nowhere in Nigeria that you don’t use it, it’s a huge resource for the country.”