The Ministry of Livestock Development plans to empower 1,000 youths on different values of the sector in every state of the country.
The Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Maiha, disclosed this at the closing of a four-day Hack4Livestock Hackaton competition in Abuja.
Maiha, represented by Eustace Iyayi, his Special Assistant, said the initiative aimed to leverage digital platforms to drive growth and development in the sector, with a focus on involving women and promoting diversity.
“Currently, we plan to capacitate 1,000 youths per state in different values in the livestock sector. We are aware that this digital project is going to be very helpful in doing that,” Maiha said.
He added that the ministry had developed the Nigerian Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy package aimed at driving growth and development in the sector.
Professor Idris Bugaje, Executive-Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), commended participants for exhibiting innovation, dedication, and problem-solving mindset during the programme.
“Your success is a testament to your resilience, ingenuity, and commitment to excellence.
”May your journey serve as an inspiration to others in the pursuit of innovation for national development,” Bugaje said.
The winners of the Hack4Livestock 2025 edition, Agro Alliance, developed a solution to mitigate farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria. Mr Gbenga Sesan, a representative of the group, explained that their solution uses artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to detect cattle intrusions and alert farmers.
“This is remote monitoring, and also sends information like images and live feed of the events happening in the farm.
”The system also initiates an irritating alarm to scare away the cattle before they gain entrance to the farm,” Sesan said.
The top three Hack4Livestock Hackathon winners received N10 million, with Agro Alliance emerging first position with a sum of N5 million.
