Agribusiness

Nigeria to face acute shortage of beef, dairy products, says Minister

Published

8 years ago

August 14, 2017

Olu Emmanuel

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By ANDREW OJIEZEL

Baffled by the rate at which Nigerians are consuming beefs, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has warned against shortage of beef and dairy products.

The minister who made this known, citing rising demand for beef in the country as reason for his statement.

According to him, the gap between what the country is producing and the amount the people are consuming is too wide, as such, there likelihood that the country might be faced with acute shortage of beef and dairy products.

He stated this at a meeting with members of the Governing Councils of the three Federal Universities of Agriculture in Abeokuta, Makurdi and Umudike.

Ogbeh said the country was consuming more cows per day than it was actually breeding, warning that if the disparity was not controlled, it would not be long before the country runs out of beef supply.

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He added that the daily demand for cow meat was equally high in the FCT and five other states including, Rivers, Abia, Imo, Oyo, and Kano.

“We are consuming more cows than we are calving. Lagos State alone consumes 6,000 cows per day. Add the figure from Rivers, Abia, Imo, Oyo, Kano States and FCT, it might not be long before we run out of beef,” Ogbeh said.

He described the local cattle breed as about the least in the world, adding on the average Nigerian cows produce less than a litre of milk per day.