All over the civilised world, cattle rearing as a form of agricultural practice, is carried out in ranches. Ranching provides jobs, meat, hides and skin including bones of the animals which are used in the leather and ceramic industries
Meat from ranched animals are safer than those produced from open grazing because the animals are better treated when they are in a ranch.
In most parts of the South-East and South-South of Nigeria, people traditionally keep or rear animals in small ranches also called ‘Ogba’ in Igbo Language.
Whether one keeps cows, goats or sheep, it is trite in Igbo culture that such a person must have a ranch no matter the size, to keep the animals from destroying peoples farms. In some communities, stray animals grazing in peoples farms could be killed by the owners of the farms especially, after warnings from community leaders.
Modern ranching which is the practice of raising livestock on large areas of land, is said to be a significant activity in countries like Brazil, the US, Canada, and parts of Africa including South Africa.
Some of the countries mentioned above are among the largest producers of cattle in the world.
It is therefore unimaginable that the practice of open grazing is still very much widespread in Nigeria despite being identified as the major cause of herders-farmers’ clashes across the country.
These violent clashes not only lead to loss of precious lives of citizens, but equally rob off negatively on agriculture and heighten the biting hunger in the land.
Nigeria Newspoint urges the leadership of the country especially, the National Assembly to make laws that will put a stop to the outdated practice of open grazing in the country.
It is our considered opinion that rearing cows in ranches will benefit the cattle owners, the government and the economy more than the present open grazing that has become a threat to security of lives as well as to the agricultural sector and the economy generally.