The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, says the government’s efforts at achieving national security, including the fight against insurgency in the North-East, would be meaningless without food security.
He made the disclosure during the presentation of farm implements and items by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh to the Nigerian Army in Abuja.
General Buratai explained that the Army is investing in livestock, fisheries, poultry and other aspects of agriculture, and, so far, the Army boasts of about 1,000 herds of cattle in its ranches in different formations across the country.
He said the army is going beyond carrying arms in the affected areas to ensure security, they are playing an active role in supporting the nation’s agriculture potential.
At the Nigerian Army Farms and Ranches located in Giri on the outskirts of the nation’s capital, the ranch, which is part of the Barracks Investment Initiative Programme of the Army, is stocked with over 30 tonnes of feed concentrates, machines for making feeds and grass seeds for producing pasture.
The Ministry of Agriculture showed their support for the initiative by presenting some agriculture machinery to the army.
Sitting on a vast land which could accommodate several thousands of cows, the ranch has two breeds of about 300 cows and the army is planning to replicate these at all Army formations across the country.
