Nigeria’s demand for milk is estimated at 1.1 billion litres yearly. Her milk production capacity stands at 400 million litres yearly, leaving a supply gap of 700 million litres. But, a Dairy Development Programme to bridge the gap and empower local dairy farmers has begun. It is being promoted by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc to develop the dairy value chain. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports that the initiative is a shot in the arm of the government’s backward integration policy aimed at building capacity in manufacturing to reduce imports, create jobs and drive industrialisation.
These are exciting times for dairy farmers. Courtesy of the Farmer2Farmer Pro-gramme of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc, makers of Peak and Three Crowns milk, their fortunes have improved.
For instance, from a maximum of two litres per cow daily, farmers’ milk production has increased to between 10 and 12 litres per cow daily, resulting in a boost to their income.
The Farmer2Farmer Programme is an important component of FrieslandCampina WAMCO’s Dairy Development Programme. It is a unique engagement where certified dairy farmers from The Netherlands train and advise their Nigerian counterparts on best dairy farming methods.
Under the initiative, launched last month at the company’s host communities in Oyo State, the Dutch farmers engaged local pastoralists on dairy farming practices, such as animal health and welfare, farm record keeping, feeding and watering, calf-rearing, milking hygiene, cow fertility, hoof care, housing and barn design.
The goal of the programme, according to FrieslandCampina WAMCO Corporate Affairs Director Ore Famurewa is “to improve milk quality and increase milk production on dairy farms”.
She said the programme was contributing to higher incomes for farmers and better living standards for their families as well as safeguarding local food security in the markets.
One of the dairy farmers and owner of Genius Integrated Farms, Iseyin, Oyo State, Mr. Moyosore Olatunde Rafiu, confirmed that farmers’ yield has improved tremendously on the strength of the programme. He said the programme ensured the transfer of technical skills to them by Dutch dairy farmers, particularly in cross breeding of Fulani cows.
Other best global dairy farming practices that helped boost capacity, he said, included artificial insemination, animal health and nutrition, vaccines, forage production and state-of-the-art veterinary equipment.
The programme is a private-public-partnership (PPP) initiative aimed at developing the dairy industry by creating a sustainable raw milk value chain that contributes to food security through provision of quality dairy nutrition to Nigerians as well as providing jobs.
Famurewa said the idea was to make the dairy sector more attractive for youths.
The Farmer2Farmer initiative was integrated with the Dairy Farmers’ Day, created and hosted by FrieslandCampina WAMCO. The first edition held in Iseyin last week. It was aimed at highlighting the importance of dairy farming in the provision of food and employment for rural farmers.
The event celebrated dairy farmers from the five local government areas where FrieslandCampina WAMCO’s dairy development programme is being implemented in Oyo State.
Friesland-Campina WAMCO Managing Director Mr. Ben Langat said: “As a company, we will continue to lead in steering economic solutions in the dairy sector and to play a key role in the ongoing efforts to improve and maximise the potential of dairy farming in Nigeria.”
He said the event was to celebrate all the dairy farmers across the communities in Oyo where the DPP is being implemented, adding that it also facilitates knowledge exchange and experiential learning between local dairy farmers and dairy experts from within and outside Nigeria.
Langat noted that the dairy sector faced a number of challenges particularly the nomadic nature of the pastoralists who are mainly the cattle owners, coupled with lack of good quality grazing reserves and pastures, which result in poor nutrition for lactating cows and poor productivity of indigenous cattle breeds.
He also identified the unorthodox fresh milk collection, processing and marketing channels; lack of infrastructure (access roads, potable water, electricity, and modern dairy farming technologies) and absence of enabling policies regarding dairy farming as other factors that contribute to the current undesirable state of the dairy sector.
Langat, however, said despite the challenges, private firms and individuals, in some cases, in collaboration with state and federal governments, are making efforts to ensure improvement in the dairy sector. Some of the interventions, according to him, are focused on strengthening of milk marketing, collection and payment by private firms.
Others, he said, are focused on improving extension and productivity services, animal health and cross breeding schemes, aggregation of farmers for easier access to credit facilities and markets as well as facilitation of inputs and infrastructure in dairy zones, among others.
Encouraged by such efforts and interventions, Langat believes that the future of dairy farming is promising. “We would like to look to the future and envision what dairy farming should look like in about a decade (2030 to be precise).
“We expect a total turn around and 100 per cent improvement of the policy and enabling environment; research and development; economic empowerment; infrastructure; nutrition and food security; operations and farming practices,” he said.
Langat projected that by 2030, there will be access to finance and credit facilities, access to land for grazing, pasture, feed et al; improved reviewed policies, clear regulations on land ownership in different parts of the country; improved research in animal health and nutrition as well as technologies for enhancing dairy farming.
He also said there will be more smallholder farmers with well-established ranches; improved availability of modern farming methods and equipment; availability of variety of dairy products, markets for the milk products from farmers organised dairy clusters and cooperatives, well established dairy communities with well developed facilities- schools, hospitals; access roads across dairy zones, potable water, regular electricity; improved yield of milk in litres per cow per day, and 100 per cent local sourcing of milk.
The output of milk per cow daily in Nigeria is low, compared to other African countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, with between 30 and 40 litres of milk per cow daily. This, according to experts, is because Nigeria’s dairy sector is still largely characterised by cattle ownership belonging to Fulani pastoralists who are nomadic.
The pastoralists go for days on long distances to graze their cattle and look for pasture and water for them. This affects the quality and quantity of their milk.
Available statistics put the yearly demand of milk in Nigeria at 1.1 billion litres. The estimated yearly production is 400 million litres, leaving annual demand/supply gap of 700 million litres. This is clearly an opportunity for FrieslandCampina WAMCO and, indeed, other dairy companies as well as Nigerian dairy farmers to benefit as they bridge this sizeable gap.
For now, FrieslandCampina WAMCO is the only dairy manufacturer sourcing part of its raw milk locally through the programme. Interestingly, the scheme bodes well with the Federal Government’s backward integration policy that encourages building capacity in local manufacturing to significantly reduce imports and create jobs.
Under the programme’s sustainable raw milk value chain, Fulani herdsmen constitute the first leg of the empowerment scheme under which they are trained to ensure they get the best quality milk. The herdsmen are supported through consistent trainings and demonstrations to upgrade their milk supply in terms of quantity and, more importantly, quality.
They are also trained in the use of crop residues and fortification as sources of good feed to cattle. Also, feed preservation through silage and hay making are demonstrated, while crossbreeding through artificial insemination was carried out.
One of the Dutch famers, Mr. Gerben Smeenk, confirmed that the farmers, during the training, demonstrated high level of enthusiasm in learning new, improved farming methods.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, lauded the company’s efforts in creating and hosting the first Dairy Farmers’ Day.
Noting that the initiative has taken a firm root in the state and is spreading to other parts of the country, Ogbeh reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to the success of the programme .
From the Ambassador of The Netherlands to Nigeria, Mr. Robert Petri, also came assurances that the country would strengthen its partnership with the government in agriculture.
“Agric is a priority for the government and dairy farming is part of it,” he said.
Since its inception in 2011, the programme has spanned across five LGAs of Iseyin, Ibarapa, Saki West, Atiba and Itesiwaju in the state in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the government.
Specifically, the focus of implementation has been on identification of dairy value chain actors in the state; sensitisation, registration and organisation of potential dairy farmers; training of farmers and extension workers; milk collection, testing and quality control; crossbreeding; tsetse eradication programmes; improved and hybrid pasture cultivation demonstrations for farmers.
According to the Dairy Development Project Manager, Mr. John Olayiwola, over 1,800 farmers, including men and women, are engaged in the programme. He said through the programme, FrieslandCampina WAMCO introduced the local farmers to the use of banks and other modern payment channels.
The Nation also learnt that the introduction of the Dutch Grass-to-Glass approach, which encourages inside grazing, may have also assisted government in addressing the grazing challenge. The company has been able to reduce the menace of Fulani herdsmen, at least, in the state.
