Veterinary Hubs: Boosting Nigeria’s Livestock Industry

Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), says it is embarking on building and equipping 20 Model Veterinary Hospitals across geopolitical zones to strengthen the delivery of quality animal healthcare nationwide.

The National Project Coordinator (NPC) L-PRES, Sanusi Abubakar, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Abubakar revealed that the 20 states for the model veterinary hospitals include Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, Plateau, Niger, Kwara, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kano.

Others he said were Edo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ondo, Ekiti, and Oyo States.

He disclosed that seven out of the number were already at various stages of completion.

According to him, these are the ones in Sokoto, Niger, Enugu, Ondo, Borno, Adamawa and Edo States.

” the project intends to enable easier access of cluster livestock farmers to veterinary services among others.

”The hospitals are basically for improved clinical services by veterinarians, training, and ambulatory services for the project’s farmers across the 20 states where L-PRES is been implemented.

“These model veterinary hospitals are unique in their locations as they are to serve identified value chain clusters in the various states.

“This will be made easy by assigning a full fledge and operational ambulatory vehicles to offer mobile veterinary services in areas that may not have easy access to the veterinary facility.

“By estimation, the animal health infrastructure will serve more than 450,000 value clusters in its first and second year of full operations.”

The L-PRES national project coordinator added that the infrastructures would be linked with the private sector in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to ensure sustainability.

He noted that more than 80 per cent of registered veterinarians were in the private sector, adding that bringing them on board would ensure full utilisation of the facilities.

He said the arrangement would further ensure mentoring and training of younger professionals that would be handed the mantle of leadership soonest.

“L-PRES is a 500 million dollar World Bank project that has been on in about 20 states across Nigeria.

“The project objective is to improve productivity, commercialization, and resilience of livestock value chains generally.

“Most of the activities that are going on at the state level deal with livestock value chain enhancement.

”That is support in terms of natural resources, water, and pasture, but nationally we deal with institutional support.

“We have built seven veterinary hospitals in every geopolitical zone. Currently, we are upscaling the facilities hopefully by the end of the year we will increase the number with an additional eight,” he said.

Abubakar explained that L-PRES frame work was to ensure all its targeted 450,000 livestock value chain clusters are reached with veterinary care or services.

According to him, the organization wants to create a system of ambulatory service whereby farmers will just make a call, and take the service to them.

”We are working with veterinary doctors, paramedics, and community health officers to support the lives of farmers.

“That model veterinary hospital will be the hub for these professionals that will be supporting our process.” (NAN)