Nigeria set to cut $1.3bn diary import cost through Arla’s foods

In a bid to reduce the country’s diary import bill, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Lars Loekke Rasmussen and President Muhammadu Buhari in the company of a high-powered Nigerian delegation from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, held talks in Denmark with Arla Foods on the development of the dairy sector in Nigeria, last week.

Nigeria spends an estimated amount of $1.3 billion on the importation of dairy products and now, the government’s target is to double the milk production over the next three to four years in order to meet up with domestic consumption and export.

BusinessDay learnt that Arla’s food, global dairy company, presented a letter of intent to Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture last month.

At the moment, Nigeria spends $1.3billion dollars on dairy imports. The Nigerian government had said it target is to double the milk production over the next three to four years so as to meet up with domestic consumption and export.

“We hope for a partnership with Arla and knowledge sharing that will help us empower Nigerian farmers who face multiple challenges with logistics, infrastructure, organisation, quality and productivity. We could definitely see Arla as a partner to help build a sustainable dairy industry in Nigeria from the very beginning based on its globally proven concept of ‘Dairy enterprise, “said Andrew Kwasari, who stood in for the Minister.

Arla Foods, which is one of the world’s largest dairy companies, declared that the visit was Arla’s second milestone in its commitment to invest in local production in Nigeria and help create a more sustainable local dairy industry.

Welcoming the delegation, Steen Hadsbjerg, senior vice president and head, Arla Foods for sub-Saharan Africa, said Nigeria is key to Arla’s ability to sell its farmer owners’ milk in West Africa in the future.

In continuation of their visit to Denmark, members of the Nigerian delegation also attended round table discussions with Arla and Danish food and agriculture companies, where they shared knowledge about farm and dairy technology solutions and discussed potential partnerships to help develop the Nigerian dairy industry.

With a population of over 180 million people, Nigeria is presently experiencing low local milk production and more than 70 percent of dairy products are imported into Nigeria.

An average cow in Nigeria is said to produce 1 kg of milk a day. But the current government has identified that what is required is among other things, a more formal ranching system to improve processes, yield and quality to extract higher value.