Northern youths Urged to Maximise $74bn Livestock Opportunities

Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, has challenged youths in Northern Nigeria to take advantage of opportunities in the livestock sector.

He said the industry has the potential to grow from its current $32 billion value to $74 billion by 2035.
Maiha made the call during the 2026 Arewa Agricultural and Innovation Summit held at Bayero University, Kano.

The minister said the livestock sector offered vast opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and wealth creation.

He appealed to young Nigerians to move beyond traditional farming to value addition and processing.
Maiha said about 95 per cent of Nigeria’s livestock resources were located in the North, describing the sector as one of the country’s “lowest hanging fruits” for job creation.

The minister lamented that despite the region’s huge livestock resources, animals were still transported over long distances and sold largely in raw form, resulting in significant economic losses.

He cited the Maigatari livestock market in Jigawa State, saying that about N7bn in transactions were conducted there each week, but with little value added.

The minister said the Federal Government was working with northern state governments and the National Assembly to establish modern abattoirs through public-private partnerships.

He added that the government planned to phase out the transportation and trading of live animals within the next two to three years.

According to him, a modern abattoir processing 500 bulls daily could create about 10,000 jobs through activities such as animal production, feed supply, veterinary services, transportation, meat processing, and cold-chain logistics.

Maiha also urged youths to explore opportunities in the production of animal feed, leather, organic fertiliser and other by-products from livestock processing.

He said Lagos alone consumed about 2.9 million cattle annually, noting that processing the animals in the North before transporting meat to other parts of the country would reduce losses and create additional economic value.

“Don’t leave the university and begin to write application letters. Leave the university, think of self-employment and think also of employing people,” Maiha told the participants.

Earlier, the summit chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, said 200 emerging agripreneurs had undergone training in livestock, poultry, horticulture, and fisheries as part of efforts to turn youths’ and women’s agricultural interests into sustainable businesses.

The summit convener, Hauwa Liman, said more than 20,000 youths had been engaged across seven states through the Youth Opportunity Summits in the past two years.

Highlights of the event include cash rewards for winners of the startup pitching and culinary competition, with a grand prize of N1,000,000 for each category.