Livestock Ministry Aligns Policies with National Plan

News in brief:

-Nigeria's livestock ministry commits to fully integrating interventions into the national plan, ensuring results-driven, measurable actions aligned with national priorities.

-Stakeholders remain focused on harmonising programmes, strengthening monitoring, and translating the country's strategy into actionable, costed plans.

The Honourable Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, has reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to aligning all policies, programmes, and projects with the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2026–2030, emphasising coordinated growth in Nigeria’s livestock sector.

The announcement came during a three-day Top Management Retreat held in Abuja from 5th to 7th January 2026, designed to ensure interventions are results-driven, measurable, and aligned with national development priorities.

Peace as a Policy Priority

Minister Maiha highlighted that peace is fundamental to sustainable livestock development.

“Once we have peace, we can achieve stability and progress. Peace is central and must be treated as a national policy priority,” he stated.

Maiha urged participants to focus on critical drivers of sector growth, including breed improvement, feed development, disease management, and conflict-sensitive interventions.

Harmonising Programmes and Translating NL-GAS

The Permanent Secretary, Dr Chinyere Ijeoma Akujobi, noted that the retreat enabled staff to assess the MTNDP framework, define roles for the Ministry and its parastatals, and ensure sectoral priorities are harmonised.

She explained that the retreat focused on:

Aligning programmes across departments to eliminate duplication

Translating the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) into actionable, costed inputs

Strengthening implementation, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms.

NL-GAS is a 10-year roadmap aiming to modernise the livestock sector into a market-oriented, climate-resilient, and conflict-sensitive industry capable of contributing significantly to food security and economic growth.

Attendees included representatives from the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, directors, heads of parastatals and agencies under the Ministry, and Senior Special Assistants to the Honourable Minister, all collaborating to ensure alignment with national priorities.