FCTA restates commitment to promote nomadic education,cattle feed production

August 21, 2022  2 min read

Participants at the capacity building workshop on the cultivation of Alfalfa plant by herders, in FCT.

-agency report

The FCT Administration has restated its commitment to nomadic education through skills acquisition in all the 47 Nomadic Adult Literacy Learning Centres in the FCT.

The Mandate Secretary at the FCT Education Secretariat, Alhaji Sani El-Katuzu, restated the commitment at the inauguration of a capacity building workshop on the cultivation of Alfalfa plant by herders.

Alfalfa is a perennial plant cultivated as a forage crop. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as well as a green manure and cover crop.

Public Relations Officer, FCT Department of Mass Education, Farayola Ojebola, stated on Saturday in Abuja that the FCT Administration had earlier rolled out series of life improving skills for herders.

He stated that El-Katuzu expressed delight at the profitable and timely initiative, and said the training would go a long way to reduce clashes between herders and their host communities.

He said the cultivation of alfalfa would also encourage herders in the FCT to imbibe ranching.

“The cultivation and production of alfalfa feed for cattle in various settlements will afford the herdsmen the opportunity of growing their cattle feed by themselves.

“This will entrench the implementation and development of ranching policy in the FCT.

“The training is packaged to also put an end to the issue of control of land resource.

“It will significantly reduce farmers-herdsmen clashes, empower the herdsmen economically and help to achieve the much-desired peace between farmers and herdsmen,’’ Farayola quoted El-Katuzu as saying.

Ojebola also quoted the Director, FCT Department of Mass Education, Hajia Hajarat Alayande as saying that the cultivation of alfalfa by herdsmen would discourage open grazing in the FCT.

“Facilitators will go to nomadic education centres to replicate the training and give herders alfalfa seeds for cultivation in their various settlements,’’ she said.