Olam expands operations to reduce agro-import bill‎

Meeting Nigeria’s food security needs and providing an increased export balance has been identified as a core value, which has driven Olam Nigeria in over $1 billion investments in the country.

With a strong Nigerian heritage, Olam has identified animal feed and protein as a win-win opportunity. Investing in domestic production of animal feed and poultry will support import substitution, rural self-employment, food security and nutrition, indicates a report made available by the company.‎

In the report, made available to BusinessDay, the company notes that it has over the years identified population growth, urbanisation changing food preferences will result in a steady increase in demand for Animal proteins in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, imports of frozen poultry and fish are being phased out by progressive government policies.

To support domestic protein production, the commercial animal feed market is expected to grow 10 percent per year for the next five years.

Approximately N20 billion has been invested by the firm in the development of state of the art animal feed mill; poultry breeding farms; hatchery to produce day-old-chicks and reduce Nigeria’s import bill.‎

The company’s production capacities as revealed, will see its feed mill utilising around 180,000 MT of corn and 75,000MT of soybeans, most of which will be sourced from local farmers.

50,000MT of onsite storage, plus a similar level of outsourced storage capacity, will support food security and price stabilisation for farmers.

Training on farming practices will be offered to farmers in collaboration with Federal, State and non-governmental agencies to increase farm yield.

The company also prides itself in developing valuable partnerships with the Kaduna state government,

“We are developing a model for supplying chicken, meat and eggs for its school meals programme at below-market prices,” the firm said

“An integrated rainwater harvesting programme will help the site meet its water requirements and solar power generation will reduce dependence on fossil-fuel based energy.”

Olam is a leading agri-business operating in 70 countries, supplying food and industrial raw materials to 16,200 customers.

Listed on the Singapore exchange, the firm has built global leadership positions in Cocoa, coffee, cotton, cashew, rice and more.

In Nigeria Olam’s 10,000-hectare rice farm will support 16,000 local rice farmers by 2018

As an importer of wheat to Nigeria Olam is also producing animal feed from the bran by-product. In addition, to boost Nigeria poultry production the firm is investing in hatcheries.

Olam group in Nigeria is a leading agri-business company, working along the value chain from growing and sourcing raw commodities, to processing, exporting and distribution, and the manufacturing of consumer packaged foods.

Olam Nigeria is a fully owned subsidiary of Olam international Limited, the global company that began sourcing its very first product – cashews – at the farm gate in Nigeria in 1989.