How dairy industry improves local input sourcing

Dairy makers are making efforts to source milk locally from herdsmen.
Major players are serious with reducing importation of raw milk and pressure on the foreign exchange market.
FrieslandCampina WAMCO is sourcing milk from local Fulani farmers in Oyo State through its programme tagged Dairy Development Programme (DDP). The firm currently has four locations in Oyo State where it houses and supports local herdsmen who provide quality milk from local cows. FrieslandCampina’s model provides shelter for herdsmen, thereby reducing clashes with farmers in Oyo State, while guaranteeing ready market for them.
“This is a model every other dairy company in Nigeria should emulate now. I am impressed with the level of FrieslandCampina’s investment here and how they work with local farmers. What we will do is to share knowledge with local farmers, but we don’t need to transfer knowledge which works in other countries straight to this place. We want home-grown solutions,” said Imke de Boer, professor of animal science, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, who spoke with BusinessDay after FrieslandCampina’s factory recent tour in Oyo State.
Nigeria’s dairy industry is made up of milk, cheese, yoghurt and sour milk.
A 2015 Sahel Capital report on Nigeria’s dairy industry entitled ‘How Fresh Is Our Milk’ says local milk production is being hampered by low milk yields of domestic cattle, low levels of cattle nutrition, animal health challenges, poor management and husbandry practices, and low utilisation of improved livestock technologies. Sahel Capital claims that in 2013, Nigeria produced only 591,470 MT of milk from 2.3 million cows. The country’s average daily yield per cow is 0.5 to 2 litres from indigenous breeds, which is very low in comparison to 35-40 litres in South Africa, 50 litres in New Zealand, and 70 litres in the U.S, according to Sahel Capital.
Nigeria’s annual milk import bill is estimated at $1.3 billion. Dairy makers source less than 10 percent of raw milk locally, owing to issues relating to quality. However, experts want them to do more.
PZ Cussons, a dairy maker, also buys milk from local herdsmen in Minna (Niger State) and Ilorin (Kwara State) and test it in its laboratory to check if it meets standards, a source said.
The firm also assists herdsmen in the production of quality milk.
ODINAKA ANUDU
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