A university teacher, at the department of animal husbandry, Obefemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,  Professor Funso Sonaiya, has advocated legislation to bridge the gaps militating the  development of animal husbandry industry in Nigeria.

Sonaiya, made the call at the University of Ibadan International Conference  Centre, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune shortly after he featured as a guest  speaker during a programme put together by Development Icons Forum (DIF), on the path  of dairy enterprise to sustainable development.

While identifying the gaps in the development of animal husbandry industry,  Sonaiya, listed insufficient legislation as one of the challenges being faced by  stakeholders in the industry.

He posited that the human society can only develop under laws, saying that there  is the need for laws and legislations to govern the development of the animal  industry. “Secondly, we need to collate and benefit experience from the farmers.

Farmers go through a lot of challenges, they notice some things that are good and the  ones that are not.

“We need to put them together and then help the next generations of farmers to  learn from that. We have not done that very well because the system of husbandry  traditionally is different from the system we teach in the high schools and  universities.

“The normal thing is that the animals move around, look for food and then come  home in the evening. That system which has been very useful to us for so long has to  change because there are many more people and so we do not have the same amount of  land, the same amount of cattle routes, grazing centres and so on.

“So, there is need for a change, we need to find out what is the experience of  those who for example have established dairy farms or dairy ranches, how can we learn  from that? So I think this is the gap that we have not been interacting  sufficiently.”

He further stated that there are a lot of young people being encouraged to go  into farming. He noted that the farming they teach at the university are just  theoretical of which is different from what they would find. “We have to find a balance  between new technology and the old practices.”

Head of Operations, Development Icons Forum (DIF), Mr Adebimpe Aderounmu, while  speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said the idea behind DIF is to gather development  icons, people who have development consequence on development focal issues.

“This time around we are looking at the path of dairy enterprise so that  Nigerians can be more informed about what dairy is all about beyond just buying a tin  milk or a sachet milk. Also, how participatory can dairy enterprise be? and at the  same time, how can the value chain as huge as it is would call for the involvement of  virtually as many as interested either in making money or fulfilling a career.

Again, we felt with all the resources that we ha e in Nigeria, this area is at  the lowest ebb, we kept on importing and our people are less engaged by the day. We  felt we need to beam a searchlight into this area and see how we can change the flow.”

SOURCE: TRIBUNE