The federal government is moving to address the shortage of veterinary professionals in Nigeria’s rural communities, where limited access to animal health services continues to affect livestock farmers.
National Project Coordinator of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project, (L-PRES), Dr. Sanusi Abubakar, disclosed this in Ilorin the Kwara State capital during the pilot implementation of the Private Veterinary Service Programme saying the initiative will deploy 780 private veterinarians and veterinary para-professionals to over 1,000 livestock clusters across 13 states.
Dr. Abubakar said the public-private initiative will expand access to quality veterinary services, create jobs for young professionals, strengthen disease surveillance, and boost livestock productivity.
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Kwara State Commissioner for Livestock Development, Oloruntoyosi Thomas, and the Kwara L-PRES State Project Coordinator, Olusoji Oyawoye, said the programme is already benefiting livestock farmers, pastoral communities and other value-chain actors across the state’s 16 local government areas.
Some of the veterinarians selected for the initiative in Kwara said the support will improve logistics, disease sampling, diagnosis, and treatment.
The Kwara L-PRES project says it has so far vaccinated more than 250,000 animals against major livestock diseases, among other interventions across the state.
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(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
