BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Monday, flagged off a five-day training workshop in small stock (goat) production for 50 persons in Sokoto.
In her keynote address before flagging off the training at the Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto, NDE State Coordinator, Mrs. Eunice Danmallam said the Small Scale Stock (Goat) Production has the potential of positively affecting the living standards of the farming communities.
According to her, goat production business includes the meat, milk, hide and skin as well as manure from the animal droppings.
Mrs. Danmallam further reiterated that the programme is geared towards achieving improved livelihood for the unemployed, reducing rural/urban migration, earning income, providing raw materials for leather manufacturing industries, enhancing protein intake of the populace as well as reducing poverty.
“The Small Stock (Goat) Production Training is a new scheme designed by the NDE considering the immense potential inherent in Goat Production business. Engaging the unemployed therefore in Goat production business along its value chain can play an important role in Socio Economic and Environmental life of the farming communities in terms of income generation and food supply for the local population and country at large”.
Speaking earlier, both Mr. Joshua Fagbemi, representing the Director of Rural Employment Programme (REP) and the Sokoto HOD of the Department, Malam Suraju Yusuf appealed to participants to utilize the rare privilege.
Mr. Fagbemi, who insisted that goat is a very good animal to rare, added that it can eat virtually everything and survive.
He further divulged that what the NDE is doing now is breeding, thereby making it a revolving kind of arrangement.
“We will pick just one out of the number of children the goat will bear in a year and give same to another person, and it goes on and on until goats get to fill everywhere in Sokoto.”
In his goodwill message, Dr. Umar Balarabe from the Faculty of Animal Sciences, Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic said they are always ready to partner with NDE on issues of empowerment.
He also noted that it is a golden opportunity for the participants to make judicious use of the offer.
The resource persons, Murtala Labbo, Murktar Sani and Kabiru Yusuf Muhammad from the Polytechnic also appealed to participants to remain committed to the training.
