The Federal Government has deepened its ties with France to accelerate the transformation of Nigeria’s livestock sector through targeted state ranching and animal disease management programmes. 

Receiving an official delegation from the French Development Agency (AFD) at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday, 10 July 2026, the Honourable Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, pledged stronger institutional collaboration to fast-track breed improvements and build sustainable rural infrastructure.

The high-level courtesy visit, led by the AFD Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Jacky Amprou, focused heavily on securing funding and technical templates to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s National Ranching Policy. 

Under the proposed framework, the Ministry and the AFD will jointly develop selected grazing reserves to serve as proof-of-concept ranches. 

These specialised facilities are designed to significantly reduce transhumance, the seasonal movement of livestock, while boosting dairy productivity, improving animal health systems, and fostering long-term peace and economic security across rural farming communities.

The new partnership is structured to run alongside several major sub-regional initiatives. Minister Maiha explained that the AFD’s intervention will complement the Nigeria Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS), the National Livestock Master Plan (N-LMP), and the Nigeria Livestock Economic Advancement Project (N-LEAP), a scheme that has also garnered strong investment interest from the African Development Bank (AfDB). 

The Minister praised the AFD’s two-decade presence in Nigeria’s agricultural landscape, noting that the recent creation of the dedicated Ministry of Livestock Development now allows the government to execute highly focused interventions without the administrative delays of the past.

The French Development Agency has a history of successful agricultural interventions in Nigeria, including building rural roads, improving local livestock markets, and setting up regional development projects connecting Nigeria, Niger, and Mali. 

Acknowledging the agency’s early role in rehabilitating grazing fields in Kwara State, Minister Maiha stated that the next phase of the partnership will involve direct technical engagements with the French Embassy to translate policy talks into field actions. 

Reaffirming France’s commitment, Mr Jacky Amprou stated that the AFD is fully prepared to mobilise its wider technical ecosystem to scale up its ongoing projects and help modernise Nigeria’s livestock value chain.

Source: Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation