How FrieslandCampina’s milk collection plants raise local input sourcing

FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc has introduced a model in Nigeria’s dairy industry that will see Africa’s biggest economy achieve high local input preference in few years to come.

In 2011, the dairy firm introduced a programme called Dairy Development Programme (DDP), with a view to adding more local content in milk production, creating jobs for young unemployed graduates and non-graduates as well as achieving harmony between farmers and Fulani herdsmen.

The programme has achieved some milestones, having given birth to milk collection centres in Akele, Fashola, Isheyin, Maya, and now Saki, all in Oyo State, south-west Nigeria.

The milk collection centres have enormous economic value. They are places where raw milk from Fulani herdsmen are collected and processed.

Once the Fulani herdsmen take their raw milk to the collection centres, officials of FrieslandCampina WAMCO run coagulation test, resazurin or quality test, antibiotic and adulteration tests, among others, to ensure the milk is fresh and meets stipulated standards.

Here is the model: FrieslandCampina WAMCO settles Fulani herdsmen in a particular community, trains them on international best farm practices, supports them with basic amenities, provides education to them and their children, and then guarantees a ready-market for their raw milk.

Already, 1,720 farmers in over 70 communities are participating in this programme, which provides a source of livelihood for them and their children while improving their expertise.

This programme is critical to the Nigerian economy at a time when naira is weak on the back of low oil price and Nigeria’s years of import dependence.

It is also key at this point when $1.3 billion worth of milk is imported into the country annually. Equally important it is at this time when there are incessant clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen across the country.

“Saki milk collection centre is the fifth and has the capacity to hold about 12,000 litres daily,” said Ben Langat, managing director of FrieslandCampina WAMCO, at the commissioning of the milk collection plant last Thursday at Saki community in Oyo State.

“This is planned to serve about 500 new dairy farmers in the area. By this investment, we will further reduce the distance covered to deliver milk for bulking and help manage quality before the milk is transported to the production factory,” Langat said.

According to him, over 10,000 small-holder farmers and their families could have a good income from the milk collection centre, while a multiple of this number would be involved indirectly.

“Today, we have a couple of milestones to the programme and, most importantly, we have created a model that can be replicated nationwide. With this fifth milk collection centre in Saki, we now have the capacity to collect over 40,000 litres of raw milk daily from 1,720 farmers,” he said.

He said the DDP could boast of quality milk and empowerment of 900 women, adding that the farms were run as family businesses, meaning that the acquired knowledge would be passed unto the next generation.

“But these investments must be supported by policies and socio-economic infrastructures to realise a robust dairy farming sector that can serve over 180 million Nigerians,” Langat said.

He said milk production in Nigeria was still low, citing FrieslandCampina’s partnerships with Sahel Capital, the Wageningen University, Oyo State, as well as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as part of the efforts to raise dairy production in the country.

Moyo Ajekigbe, chairman of board of directors, FrieslandCampina WAMCO, called on young graduates to take advantage of the programme by serving as milk suppliers to the firm, stressing that the company would continuously help in improving local content in dairy production in Nigeria.

Ndidi Nwuneli, co-founder of Sahel Capital, which is FrieslandCampina’s partner in dairy development, said going forward, the partnership between the two organisations would improve productivity and health of cows, working with women to increase their education.

Nwuneli said 30 extension officers were being trained, calling for support from the state and federal governments to realise this dream.

On his part, Abiola Ajimobi, Oyo State governor, thanked FrieslandCampina WAMCO for galvanising its resources towards assisting the state in actualising its dairy development programme, stating that the programme was the first of its kind as it targeted 10 percent local raw milk sourcing.

“What FrieslandCampina is doing does not just have an economic value; it also has a social value. When you have our farmers cooperating with our Fulani farmers, for me, it is the best way of bonding various groups together.”

The governor added that FrieslandCampina was in the business of collecting milk, cross breeding, training, which was what could be called integrated farming in the true sense of it.

ODINAKA ANUDU