‘Future of Nigerian dairy industry lies on smallholder farmers’

Ben Langat is the managing director of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc. In this interview with ODINAKA ANUDU, he speaks on a number of issues relating to Nigeria’s dairy industry. Read on.

 What is the dairy model that will work best for Nigeria?

There are different levels of how dairy farming or cattle-rearing is done globally. It starts with the smallest and very traditional one by pastoralists who graze their cows on any space or land that is available, migrating from place to place in search of pasture and water. In Africa, the Masai and the Fulani are mostly pastoralists. Their cows produce very little milk because they rear them as part of their socio-cultural practices, and for meat and milk. Smallholder dairy farmers form the second level. They are usually a family with some acres of land and they can keep cows within that location and are able to feed them with pasture generated within that land or its surrounding. The cows are confined and easier to control and manage diseases as well as collect their milk. The third level is commercial farming, which is now hugely industrialised. In countries like Saudi Arabia, you would find a farm with thousands of cows in air-conditioned dairies, fully mechanised using robots. Ranching is the fourth level, which is typically driven by the size of land available and typically focused on beef rearing. Ranches are large farms that are well secluded for thousands of cows to move in there.

So, smallholder farms have been the most successful dairy model so far and that is the model we are focusing on for FrieslandCampina WAMCO Dairy Development Programme (DDP). Every household that has some land can build a business on it with five to 10 cross-bred cows. It makes it easier for us to collect milk. If you go to countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Uganda, smallholder farmers are thriving. So, in Oyo, our DDP is progressing from pastoralists to smallholder farms. With cross-bred cows, you can get up to 10 to 15 litres of milk per cow instead of just one or two litres. This is where we believe the future of local dairy industry lies- smallholder farmers.

What level of success has your DDP achieved?

We have made very good progress with the DDP. We started with a milk collection centre in 2011. Now we have five milk collection centres and a bulking centre, which is where we pool all the milk into a truck and move it to the factory.

The main challenge is low productivity per cow. When cows roam for long distance to gather pasture and drink water, it impacts productivity, which currently stands at one litre per cow average. To raise that to commercial quantities, we should be aiming for, say, ten litres per cow. Iseyinland in Oyo State, where we currently operate the DDP with growing success, is not too far from our factory in Lagos, so we move milk daily. Other challenges include feed and poor infrastructure, among others. Secondly, there is a good concentration of farmers that have lived there for many years who have traditional knowledge of herding. There is still a lot of work to be done. To scale up milk volume per cow, you need the right kind of breeds.

Are you satisfied with the level of support you are getting from government on the DDP?

FrieslandCampina WAMCO is the only multinational involved in dairy development in Nigeria and we do this in partnership with the federal government. We have had Audu Ogbeh, minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, honour our invitations and sometimes set out with our team as early as 6am in the morning from Ibadan to Fashola community in Oyo because he wanted to see farmers milking their cows. That tells you there is a huge support and commitment from the Federal government. For similar reasons, we commend also Oyo State Government. Government would also do well to improve infrastructure, especially by providing good roads, water and power. You can’t do anything with cows without a good supply of clean water. So far, we have sunk 45 solar-powered boreholes, which provide water not only for the cows but also for all the five communities where we are already succeeding with the DDP –  Fashola, Maya, Saki, Iseyin and Alaga.

How exactly have you handled technology transfer as part of your on-going DDP?

We have a programme called Farmer2Farmer, where farmers from The Netherlands visit Nigeria, spend time with farmers in Oyo State, interact with them to share global best practices with our local farmers. We organised Nigeria’s first ever Dairy Farmer’s Day late last year. Leading to the event, two Dutch farmers spent about two weeks in the DDP communities, training local farmers on best dairy farming practices. This has yielded a lot of benefits and will be continued. Farmer2Farmer language is well understood irrespective of where they are in the world. They got very practical, demonstrated what nutritious pasture is and what it isn’t, what is hygienic for cows and what isn’t. Some of our smallholder farmers now have farms bearing similarities to what you will see in a commercial farm in The Netherlands with improved hygiene and proper keeping of farm records.

 What is your biggest challenge in Nigeria as a manufacturer?

The consumer’s disposable income is reduced and a lot of pressure is on the consumer wallet. In the past, we would experience very strong demand during seasons like Ramadan and Christmas, and manufacturers often were struggling to supply. Now we see these seasons offtake are slower. Outside of such seasons, sales move very slowly because consumers still contend with economic pressures. Consumers buy smaller, some shift to affordable offerings. The biggest thing for me would be to see the economy remain predictable and on a sustainable growth track.

Beyond Oyo, are there plans to take this to other parts of the country?

There are huge infrastructural limitations to contend with, which only government can take care of. But we are ready to expand the DDP to other regions systematically because it is very expensive. When our current pilot becomes even more successful and profitable, it will become easier to replicate. They are so many opportunities. Example is the school feeding programme initiated by government, which we are actively involved in. The possibilities are endless.