The House of Representatives Committee on Livestock Development yesterday emphasised the importance of the livestock sector to ensuring food security.

Chairman Wale Raji explained at the inaugural meeting of the committee that the new committee was created following the creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development by President Bola Tinubu.

According to him, the annual production in the livestock sector is estimated at 563 million chickens, 58 million cattle, 124 million goats, 60 million sheep and 16 million pigs.

He said while this put Nigeria as the leading livestock producer in West Africa, it was still far from desirable. Raji said:”We are far from meeting our consumption needs resulting in expenditure of huge amounts of foreign exchange on importation of livestock products that could be easily produced in the country.

“Nigeria stands at the precipice of extraordinary opportunity. The livestock sector is ripe for transformation, offering pathways to food security, economic diversification, and wealth creation.”