'Championing backward integration' Agric minister applauds FrieslandCampina on value-chain (Photo)

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammed Abubakar, has called on dairy experts to offer solutions on how to accelerate growth across the dairy value chain and transition it to a profitable economic sector.

According to the Minister, the Federal Government is determined to increase food security in Nigeria and employment along commodity value chains in order to strengthen Nigeria’s self-sufficiency agenda and would continue to create an enabling environment and partnerships to achieve this.

Speaking at the unveiling of a documentary magazine titled, “Dairy4Growth Nigeria: Pathways for Change”, by FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Abubakar reiterated the government’s resolve to ensure dairy development in the country.

“I congratulate FrieslandCampina WAMCO on yet another milestone recorded in developing sustainable local sourcing of milk. Your company has continued to make steady progress in strengthening the dairy value chain in Nigeria with key investments that target local dairy communities. I am looking forward to seeing your organisation scale up the learnings from the Dairy4Growth Nigeria” Abubakar said.

The magazine was unveiled at the FrieslandCampina FDOV Technical Conference and it showcased knowledge gained during five years of work on Dairy4Growth Nigeria, a project aimed at proffering solutions to challenges in the dairy industry, providing home-grown scalable solutions and transitioning Nigeria’s dairy for commercial success.

Explaining this, Executive Director Corporate Affairs, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, Ore Famurewa, said: “The Dairy4Growth Nigeria Project is an example of international public-private partnership to build sustainable socio-economic structures. It is funded by the Dutch Government with partnership from Royal FrieslandCampina, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, International Fertilizer Development Center, Wageningen University and Research, and Bles Dairies Consultancy.

“In the course of its implementation and in addition to tangible changes in the dairy sector, the Dairy4Growth Nigeria Project produced relevant technical knowledge that is very useful for the Nigerian dairy sector and the pathways of change mobilised by the Project provides valuable lessons for establishing practical solutions and implementation for a sustainable dairy chain. To fully scale the benefit of this Project, we have launched this documentary magazine to share with the broader dairy development community,” Famurewa said.

Managing Director, FrieslandCampina sub-Saharan Africa Cluster, Ben Langat said, “As the Dairy4Growth Nigeria Project wraps up, we are proud to see that the innovations from the Project will not only continue in use but also grow and be scaled up. As the first multinational dairy company to champion backward integration in Nigeria, we hope to inspire others to contribute to the sustainable development of the dairy sector.

“The Project has successfully introduced the Dairy Zone model, which is based on resource sharing, collaboration and exchanges. Farms naturally need time to develop and grow, but collaborative working and bulk purchasing helps to foster collective action. These simple but meaningful arrangements combined with enhanced infrastructure, training and extension support, as well as the introduction of feed and fodder production, have significantly contributed to increasing the production volume of quality milk,” Langat said.

The Technical Conference attracted key dairy experts in Nigeria as well as a smallholder and commercial dairy farmers, who discussed critical topics including pasture development, crossbreeding, animal health and capacity building.

Dairy4Growth Nigeria Project was funded by the Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV) a programme for public-private partnerships by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).