Government seeks investment to boost milk, meat, and poultry sector

Author: Emmanuel J. Akile | Published: 2 hours ago large cattle drive through a village in South Sudan -courtesy image The Minister of Livestock and Fisheries says the government is seeking new partnerships and increased investment to strengthen South Sudan’s milk, meat, and poultry value chains. He made the remarks during a two-day South Sudan Conference on Pastoralism and Livestock Sector Development, which aims to provide sustainable ecosystem management for pastoralism in cross-border areas of the IGAD region. Onyoti Adigo said such support is essential for creating jobs, increasing production, and improving food security across the country. “The government is placing particular emphasis on milk, meat, poultry value chain where we see high potential for job creation, enterprises and development and improve food security. “We are actively seeking more partnerships and investment support to strengthen those sectors through improve breeds, feed system, animal health services, modern processing and marketing infrastructure,” he said. He added that livestock production plays a key role in the economies and livelihoods of IGAD member countries, including South Sudan, particularly among cross-border pastoral communities. “Pastoralism being an extensive livestock production system is also known as transhuman an has been always associated with land use,” he added. Adigo noted that pastoralism is an important economic practice that sustains about 70 percent of the rural population, especially during times of economic difficulty.