The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) is pushing for a community-based ranching model, citing the high economic vulnerability and lack of education among pastoralists as major obstacles to private, capital-intensive ranching.
MACBAN president, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, explained that the average herder is often impoverished, with an entire family’s wealth—estimated at over ₦1 million per cow—moving with them, making them prime targets for rustlers and kidnappers.
“Only a poor man looks for trouble,” the President stated while speaking to Ireti Bakare-Yusuf on Borderlines on Nigeria Info 99.3FM, emphasising that herders, who often inherit their herds, seek to multiply the quantity of their cattle rather than focusing on quality, a trend that contributes to the transhumance lifestyle.
He noted that nearly all cattle in a typical herd are female for breeding purposes, which MACBAN uses as an indicator to identify suspected rustlers who try to sell female cows in the market.
The association is working closely with the recently established Ministry of Livestock Development to evolve a settlement model suitable for the pastoralists' mindset. The MACBAN President cited the Mori land settlement model in the Netherlands as a template.
This model involves developing and fencing designated reserves, confining the herders and their animals, and integrating essential amenities like veterinary services and dairy/meat processing services directly into the reserve.
The President argued that successful milk collection initiatives have already proven that factory proximity can incentivise herders to become sedentary, offering a pathway to end the frequent and violent farmer-herder clashes currently plaguing the country.
