Kano Dairy Union, Outspan vaccinate 1,500 cattle against foot, mouth disease

Outspan Nigeria Limited, the dairy business of Olam Food Ingredients has extended its support for the local dairy industry by partnering with Kano Dairy Union to vaccinate no fewer than 1,500 herds of cattle in the state.

The firm flagged off a vaccination exercise against the foot and mouth disease for 1,500 dairy cattle in Dawakin Tofa local government area of Kano State recently.

The primary objective of the vaccination exercise is to improve cattle health management in the sector and enhance the milk production level in the state.

Considering the deadly nature of the foot and mouth disease and its economic implication on dairy farmers business, the exercise forms a scaled approach at promoting the Federal Government’s policy on backward integration schemes in the dairy industry.

Flagging off the exercise, Ahmed Adetunji, manager, Outspan, Kano, who represented Vipin Patel, the national sales operations manager, Olam, said, “We keep deepening our involvement in the local dairy value chain by engaging an extensive number of smallholder farmers to facilitate improve farming practices in the value chain, while we inject the necessary investment funds to expand local milk production.”

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“The vaccination exercise will remove constraints around dairy cattle health management which directly affects the cattle productivity level and by extension increases the quantity and quality of milk being produced locally,” he further explained.

He added that, in addition to the recent insemination exercise on 1,000 cows in the state, the opening of a new milk collection centre to preserve the quality of milk produce locally and the training of smallholder dairy farmers on the adoption of modern farming practices, all sponsored by the firm, the vaccination exercise against foot and mouth disease which is considered deadly among livestock, is expected to fast track the achievement of milk production self-sufficiency in the country.

Similarly, Usman Abdullahi Usman, chairman of the Kano Dairy Union, and Celestine Ayok, a dairy consultant, who were present at the event thanked Outspan Nigeria Limited for its contribution to the growth aspirations of the dairy value chain.

According to them, proactiveness and a strong commitment to enhancing the primary activities along the value chain, which is being demonstrated by Outspan Nigeria Limited, is key to driving improved local milk production.