Supply gap of 600,000mt in national diary output opens investment for milk industry

Nigeria’s annual diary output and demand at 700,000 metric tons (mt) and 1,300,000mt, respectively, leaves a supply gap of 600,000mt, which signals investment opportunities for dairy farmers and milk industries in Nigeria, according to BusinessDay finding.

BusinessDay also learns that the diary industry in Nigeria is also under invested in, which has prompted a Danish company – Arla, at the second multi-stakeholder roundtable on sustainable diary sector development in West Africa, to discuss with the Nigerian government on training of diary farmers and some companies on modern techniques of diary farming to add more value to the sector.

Dairy, it would be noted, is nutritious due to its high calcium, protein and vitamin levels, which are especially needed for the healthy development of children.

Speaking at the event, Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture and rural development, said the Federal Government was prepared to work with an ample range of national and international stakeholders to speed up transformation in the livestock industry to meet contemporary aspirations of wholesome, commercialisation, increased farmer and national income as well as well-being of the nation.

Represented by Eze Egejuru, director of animal production and husbandry services in the ministry, Ogbeh said the government was determined to set the sector in the brightest spot on the country, as economic landscape and in furtherance to increasing interest of international diary companies in the emerging markets with growing demand for milk and diary products in Nigeria.

According to Ogbeh, “The Federal Government is partnering with major national and international stakeholder in the diary sector to inject a considerable volume of locally produced raw milk in powdered milk produced in Nigeria to meet the national demand and drastically reduce milk importation by the year 2019.”

Also, as part of efforts aimed at training diary farmers in Nigeria, the Arla representative at the event Teis Brogger, said: “For Arla Food, we have over 100 years of experience in modern and efficient diary production, and we feel that it is our responsibility to share that with our local sector here in Nigeria, which has a proud diary history, although under invested for many years.

“There are lots of low hanging fruits where we could quicken up and make lots of difference in the sector, which entails involving farmers at the grassroots in cooperatives to be part of diary and milk business. We are also looking at ways of improving cooling facilities for the milk, to address issues on quality.”

In the same vein, the Danish ambassador to Nigeria, Torben Gettermann, told BusinessDay on the sidelines of the event that the government of Denmark was prepared to offer assistance through its companies in respect to initiatives that would foster food security in the Nigeria and address incidences of malnutrition, which he said milk was a key component.