The Kogi Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (Kogi L-PRES) Project has begun a six-day training on meat hygiene, safety and sanitation for 300 butchers, abattoir workers and meat sellers.
Speaking on Thursday at the training in Lokoja, the State Project Coordinator, Mr Abdulkabir Otaru, said the state government was determined to protect the health and safety of meat consumers and processors.
He said the training was aimed at butchers, meat sellers, abattoir and sanitation workers, as well as veterinary officers across the state.
Otaru said 100 participants would be trained from each of Kogi’s three senatorial districts: Kogi West, Kogi Central and Kogi East.
“We are building the capacity of butchers, meat sellers, abattoir workers, sanitation workers and veterinary officers on meat hygiene, safety and sanitation.
“Before now, Kogi L-PRES had constructed eight model slaughterhouses and eight wet markets across the state. Some have been completed, while others are at advanced stages.
“We want to ensure that the direct beneficiaries who will use these facilities have the capacity to maintain them and ensure that the meat consumed by the public is safe and hygienic,” he said.
He explained that the L-PRES project was mandated to ensure food safety under the One Health approach.
He said the project had also rehabilitated and upgraded nine livestock markets across the state and improved facilities at the model slaughterhouses.
Otaru said the 300 trainees, who were participating as trainers of trainers (ToT), would pass on the training to at least 10 people each in their respective livestock value-chain clusters to extend its reach.
He said L-PRES, a six-year World Bank-supported project now in its fourth year, had provided livestock farm inputs to more than 27,000 beneficiaries across the state.
He expressed confidence that the project would meet and exceed its target of 30,000 direct beneficiaries before it ends in 2028.
He commended Gov. Ahmed Ododo for his political will and consistent payment of counterpart funds to support the project’s implementation and development of the state’s livestock sector.
The lead facilitator and Managing Director of Bridge Agrocare Solutions, Dr Majeed Baje, said the training covered ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections, stakeholder roles and enforcement of standard operating procedures in abattoirs.
He advised trainees to apply what they had learned in their work, noting that personal hygiene and occupational safety were essential to ensuring meat was safe for public consumption.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Kogi chapter, Dr Tolu Omotugba, commended the improvements at the Lokoja abattoir, which had previously struggled with poor hygiene.
He also praised Kogi L-PRES and the state government for the facility and urged butchers to work with meat inspectors and allow them to inspect their facilities in the public interest.
The Chairman of the Kogi Butchers Union, Idi Ibrahim, thanked Gov. Usman Ododo for fulfilling his promise to build the model slaughterhouse and wet market.
Ibrahim said the union had put measures in place to manage and preserve the facility and would apply the lessons learned during the training.
Facilitators presented modules on meat hygiene and the One Health concept, personal hygiene and occupational safety, zoonoses, meat-borne diseases and environmental sanitation, among other topics.
The Lokoja training would include a practical session at the newly constructed model slaughterhouse at the Lokoja Main Abattoir in Felele, with demonstrations of hygienic practices at different stages of abattoir operations.
Organised in partnership with Bridge Agrocare Solutions, the training began on Monday and will end on Saturday.
