The recent proposed banned on kpomo has generated reactions from some Stakeholders in the agribusiness.
Imal Silva, Agropreneur and advocate for Sustainable Agriculture,appealed to the Federal government not to ban kpomo for the sake of the people that have made it their special delicacy.
Silva said people above 40 years age cannot eat much of regular meat. Kpomo is what is more ideal for them, and there are some tribes that kpomo is part of their delicacy .
The government should not say because some people are making good money exporting hides and skins then stop the poor people who also buy it to cook and eat.
He urged FG to rear more cattle so that the would be enough to eat and export.
He also appealed to exporters of cow skin to partner with different stakeholders in the cattle business use the opportunity rear more cattle, sell beef, meat as well as hides and make much more money partnerships.
There also the need to look for more alternatives to cow skin, Both animal and plant options.”
Mallam Farouk Hassan, a meat seller in Abuja said the ban of kpomo is not what the peole need,” if you ban kpomo what is the alternative for it that people can afford.
” I am a meat seller and i have being doing this business for more that 20 years and i can tell you that kpomo is a life saver for many homes.
What we need is for government to make the environment safer so that farmers can go back to farms this will also help animal rearing to improve.” He said
Mrs Folashade Ajewole, a farmer appealed to government to reconsider it stand and look into the issue closely.
Banning of kpomo is not the problem, what will be the alternative to kpomo for the people, do we have industries that will use the cow skin for the various shoes and bags we need.
According to her, about four months ago 50 of my cows were gone just like that along Kaduna road where a have my farm.
Government needs to make the environment safer, let more people rear more cattles this will help because there be more cattles to go round for eating and exporting.” She said
Prof Muhammad Yakubu, the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), Zaria, had said that the decision to ban kpomo was geared towards resuscitating the moribund tanneries and leather industry in the country.
He noted that the habit of eating animal skin, which had no nutritional value, should be stopped in order to save the industry and boost the nation’s economy.
The DG said the institute, in collaboration with stakeholders in the industry, would approach the National Assembly and state governments to bring out legislation banning kpomo consumption.
