FG to develop dairy production zones

The establishment of dairy production zones with a view to operating a modern dairy system that would increase milk production in Nigeria has been proposed by Akinwumi Adesina, minister of agriculture and rural development.

Adesina made this proposal recently when the management of Friesland Campina WAMCO paid him a courtesy visit at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

The minister suggested the need to establish a Dairy College, where people can learn to be dairy farmers, saying “we need to create a young generation of dairy farmers and young entrepreneurs,” as the ministry would be willing to set up young dairy farmers with funding support.

Adesina commended WAMCO for scaling up their milk production from 100,000 litres to 2.2 million litres, adding that Nigeria had no business importing milk rather than producing it, and proposed the creation of two dairy production zones in any of the 14 Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZ), and assured on the readiness of his ministry to provide the necessary infrastructure.

He restated his ministry’s commitment to the development of grazing reserves and ranches in Nigeria, stating that there was nothing wrong in having commercial and public ranches simultaneously, as a national policy on the development of ranches was being put in place by the government.

Earlier in his remarks, Jacob Ajekigbe, chairman, Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Limited, said the visit was a follow-up on their previous meetings and to show their commitment to the MoU signed by the company with the ministry in 2011.

Ajekigbe sought for more support from the ministry in the area of infrastructure development to enable them increase their productivity level.