The Kogi Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project has distributed vital equipment and motorcycles to extension agents and farmers to boost livestock productivity.

Olufemi Bolarin, the state Commissioner for Livestock Development, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ engagement on livestock extension services on Saturday in Lokoja.

Mr Bolarin said the initiative underscored Governor Ahmed Ododo’s administration’s commitment to transforming the state’s agricultural landscape, promoting food security, and enhancing rural economic growth.

He urged the beneficiaries to utilise the equipment strictly for livestock value chain development and warned against their commercial or private use.

The commissioner emphasised that agriculture remained critical to socio-economic development and employment creation, stressing the need to prioritise staff welfare for optimal productivity.

According to him, the distribution exercise and stakeholder engagements are designed to strengthen the livestock sector, improve food security, and drive sustainable economic growth in the state.

Also speaking, Abdulkabir Otaru, the L-PRES State project coordinator, said the project had adopted digital tools, such as the Kobo Tool, for real-time data capture in its livestock extension and advisory services.

He said the project also adopted a farmer-to-farmer extension approach in collaboration with the Kogi Agricultural Development Project (ADP) to enhance outreach and impact.

Mr Otaru listed the items distributed to include 21 motorcycles for livestock extension agents across the 21 local government areas, 1,000 livestock extension manuals to farmers in 64 livestock value chain clusters, as well as veterinary medical and laboratory equipment, meat inspection kits, and surgical tools.

“These resources were provided to the department of veterinary services to improve animal health, productivity, and food safety,” he said.

Timothy Ojonah, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, and George Ogirima, the managing director of Kogi ADP, commended the initiative for its potential to improve livestock productivity.

They advised against including “ghost farmers” to ensure genuine beneficiaries received support.

Daniel Arome, a beneficiary, lauded the state government and L-PRES for the intervention and pledged to make effective use of the items for their intended purposes.

(NAN)