World Bank officials visit NAPRI, inspect L-PRES projects
A high-powered team from the World Bank has visited the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to inspect ongoing intervention projects being executed at the institute by the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES).
On arrival at the institute in Shika today (Tuesday, 10th December, 2024), the World Bank officials were received by the NAPRI Executive Director, Prof. Muhammad Rabiu Hassan and other management staff of the animal research institute.
In his remarks, the Co-Task Team Leader of the L-PRES Project, World Bank, Dr. Chidozie O. Anyiro, explained that they were in NAPRI on implementation support mission to assess the progress of the L-PRES intervention projects.
Dr. Anyiro also said the visit was to further collaborate with the institute to achieve L-PRES overall objective of improving the productivity, commercialisation, and resilience of livestock production systems.
Earlier in his speech, the L-PRES National Project Coordinator, Dr. Sanusi Abubakar, said their mission in NAPRI was essentially to inspect the L-PRES ongoing projects and decide what to do next for the institute.
Dr. Abubakar expressed appreciation to the Executive Director and Management Staff of NAPRI for the warm reception accorded the World Bank team, stressing that both L-PRES and the institute would continue to work together to enhance the collaboration.
Responding, the Executive Director, National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Prof. Muhammad Rabiu Hassan, expressed the institute’s gratitude to L-PRES for the intervention projects.
Prof. Hassan noted that with the provision of solar powered boreholes by the L-PRES the shortage of water for the livestock and pasture demonstration plots would now be a thing of the past.
The Executive Director, who disclosed that NAPRI will be 100 years old in 2028, explained that NAPRI is one of the three research institutes with the national mandate attached to Ahmadu Bello University by the Federal Government.
He also said NAPRI is now giving training on different livestock programmes for personnel from government and private establishments, stressing that the development had significantly raised the morale of staff of the institute.
The Executive Director and other management staff of the animal institute led officials of the World Bank round the ongoing L-PRES intervention projects that included solar powered boreholes and forage seeds stores.
The Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) project is a strategic input to Nigeria’s long-term approach to developing and transforming the livestock sub-sector. The project is supporting measures that will help the livestock producers and ancillary agribusiness mitigate and increase their adaptive capacity to climate change and resilience.
The project’s objective is to improve the productivity, commercialization, and resilience of targeted livestock production systems and to strengthen the country’s capacity to respond to an eligible crisis or emergency in Nigeria.
Public Affairs Directorate,
Office of the Vice-Chancellor,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
(NAM)
Tuesday, 10th December, 2024
