To curb incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers leading to loss of lives, the Federal Government has concluded plans with 10 states to establish ranches in their domain.
The states have allegedly agreed to host the ranches in the first phase of the National Ranching Project.
The states are Adamawa, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Oyo, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara.
The disclosure came at the unveiling of the National Economic Council’s National Livestock Transformation Plan which held in Abuja on Tuesday.
A NEC Committee established in January 2018 and led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo established a NEC Sub-Committee led by Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, to proffer lasting solutions to the herdsmen-farmers clashes across the nation.
The Secretary of the NEC Sub-Committee, Dr. Andrew Kwasari, who presented the plan, said N179 billion would be spent on the plan in 10 years.
He added that in the first three years, N70 billion would be expended by the Federal Government and the states participating in the pilot phase of the scheme.
Kwasari further said, “The National Livestock Implementation Plan is a mediation stemming from meetings and recommendations of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and NEC in 2017 as regards state interventions following the incessant pastoralist-farmer conflicts.”
He disclosed that governors and prominent private concerns in the states participating had donated land for pilot ranches, and ranching models of 30, 60, 150 and 300 cows would be established in a location within grazing reserves.