AGNES, Nigeria and, GIZ Step Up Climate-Resilient Livestock Drive with New LiveSys Capacity-Building Project.
By Raymond Enoch
Following a high-level meeting with the German Development Agency (GIZ) in Abuja, the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES) has begun engaging key Nigerian government stakeholders to roll out a major livestock and climate finance initiative.
Led by Dr. David Awolola and accompanied by GIZ National Focal Point, Mr. Adekunle Adeoye, the AGNES team met with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Livestock (Dr. Akujobi) and the National Technical Working Group to formally introduce AGNES’ lead role in the project titled “Strengthening National Capacity to Access Climate Finance towards Building Climate-Resilient Livestock Systems in Nigeria”.
Discussions at the meeting centred on the project’s implementation plan, the Ministry’s responsibilities, reporting timelines and deliverables, as well as the next steps to kick-start the capacity-building phase under the LiveSys project.
GIZ presented an overview of the LiveSys project’s objectives, while AGNES outlined detailed strategies to ensure alignment with the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy of the Ministry of Livestock. The talks underscored the importance of the newly formed technical working group, composed mainly of government experts, in steering the initiative.
The Permanent Secretary welcomed the intervention, describing it as timely and well-aligned with the Ministry’s Strategic Plan for the livestock sector. She affirmed the Ministry’s readiness to leverage the project as a critical training opportunity and urged AGNES to go beyond submitting full proposals to actively support Nigeria in securing climate finance grants that will unlock a new phase of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) implementation.
The meeting also highlighted the vital role of the private sector, whose expected contributions to the project’s ideation process will complement the technical working group. Inputs from various livestock sub-sectors are anticipated to boost the bankability of project concepts, help meet investment criteria, and satisfy funders’ requirements for effective LiveSys project implementation in Nigeria.
