POPULATION DISTRIBUTION OF CATTLE, SHEEP AND GOAT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria has more than 33% of ruminants‟ population in West Africa. Non-availability of reliable and accessible information on the distribution, abundance and use of livestock hinders livestock sector planning, policy development and analysis. Nigeria ruminant resource comprised 20,585,000; 47,926,000 and 84,039,000 heads of cattle, sheep and goats respectively. North West has the largest population with 48.21% of the total Tropical Livestock Units (TLUs), followed by 20.82%; 18.88%; 5.63%; 4.11% and 2.35% for North East, North Central, South West, South-South and South East respectively. South West has more ruminant compared with other Southern regions. Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) are one of the most important determinants of the characteristics of livestock production systems, in terms of species, breed, stocking capacity, disease pressure and individual
productivity. The distribution of ruminants decreases as one move to southern part of the country from the north. In conclusion, North West region has the highest population of ruminants with 52.42; 34.95 and 58.76% of cattle, goats and sheep respectively and South East has the least with 0.08; 6.54 and 1.81% of cattle, goats and sheep respectively. Therefore, it is recommended that ruminants population disaggregation should be based on AEZs than geopolitical regions, livestock census should be conducted to ascertain the actual population as this will aid in future planning.