Boosting Nigeria’s dairy production amid setbacks
December 12, 2022432 views0 comments
By Onome Amuge
Dairy production, which includes the processing, storage, and distribution of milk and milk products from livestock, predominantly cattle (cows), is considered one of the most relevant sectors in the global agriculture industry.
The milk produced from these animals can be consumed directly or processed into various dairy products such as cheese, butter, cream, yoghurt and curdled milk, and play an important role in the everyday human diet.
According to leading market research firm IMARC Group, the global dairy market size reached $893 billion in 2022, and is expected to reach $1.243 trillion by 2028, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.79 per cent during 2023-2028.
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Latest data by Statista shows that Nigeria has the sixth largest cattle population in Africa, with an estimated 20.7 million herds of cattle, surpassed by Ethiopia (70.3 million herds), Chad (32.2 million), Sudan (31.8 million), Tanzania (28.3 million), and Kenya (21.7 million).
Despite being a top cattle producer in Africa, Nigeria remains a high dairy importer. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its ‘Foreign Trade Statistics’ report, noted that Nigeria imported milk worth N27.664 in the first quarter of 2022.
The report, which labelled the commodity as “milk preparations containing vegetable fats/oils,powdered/granular,packings”, disclosed that the bulk of imported milk was purchased from Ireland at N16.1 billion, followed by Malaysia at N5.5 billion, Germany at N4.8 billion, and France at N1 billion.
Asoko Insight, an African market intelligence and corporate data provider, noted that local milk processing in Nigeria is done on a very small scale in which milk got from the cattle is used in the production of the local milk known as ‘nunu’ and local cheese popularly known as ‘wara’ by the locals.
“However, to produce milk on a commercial scale, a large percentage of milk inputs used by commercial processors is imported due to the limited portion obtained from the pastoralists,” it said.
In an assessment of Nigeria’s low dairy production, a cattle inventory report by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) noted that of the country’s total herd, 11.5 percent is used for dairy, while 88.5 percent is consumed as meat.
The report further stressed that unlike other countries that practice ranching where cattle herds are raised on large tracts of land, most Nigerian cattle rearers practice the traditional nomadic system where cattle are moved across different areas in search of pasture. This, it explained, doesn’t project Nigerian cattle breeding in a positive light as studies show that milk output of nomadic cattle is usually lower than that of cattle managed in specially built units where feeding is controlled.
Also, a 2019 report by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture showed that national dairy output per annum is 700,000 metric tonnes, while the national demand is put at 1.3 million metric tonnes, leaving a gap of 600,000MT, an indication that the country’s dairy consumption far outweighs its production.
Further analysis showed that Nigeria’s dairy processors import milk powder and reconstitute it into liquid milk and other dairy products such as yoghurt, ice cream and confectioneries. The imported dairy products come from New Zealand, Australia, South America, the EU, India, Ukraine, Poland, and other smaller suppliers. Multinational firms, such as Frieslandfoods (Netherlands) and Glanbia (Ireland), have either partnered or acquired some indigenous dairy firms for reconstituting and packaging imported milk powder, further stifling the indigenous production companies from making an impactful headway in the dairy industry.
Irrespective of the challenges bedevilling the Nigerian dairy sector, it is an undeniable fact that the development of the Nigerian dairy industry towards actualising self-reliance is a possibility that can be achieved not just through the CBN’s forex restriction policy but through the enforcement of programmes targeted at reinforcing local production.
Zanau Hassan, managing director, Farmfields Agro Allied Services, Jalingo, Taraba State, said government at all levels need to create an enabling and encompassing environment that encourages investment in dairy production. This, he said, can be activated through public-private partnerships and the development of a structural national dairy policy involving all the stakeholders in the dairy sector value chain.
Adesina Aderibigbe, a professor of Comparative Animal Nutrition, Obafemi Awolowo University, posited that diversifying cattle rearing systems in the country whereby cattle breeds with high milk-yielding capacities are raised in a confined area with a sustainable supply of food, water and medical needs is one of the most important steps towards actualising improved local dairy production.
Aderibigbe further noted that the development of the dairy sector is not just about the government initiating programmes and policies that would, in a matter of months, get abandoned without yielding the expected results.
“In these circumstances, a robust analysis of dairy production systems and value chains, an understanding of modern trends, an assessment of returns to different investments are essential to formulate and prioritise policy actions,” he said.
He also commented that considering Nigeria’s development status, ranching is the best dairy production option that is sustainable, 21st century-compliant and best-contextualised practice.
A research journal article titled “Major Issues in Nigeria Dairy Value Chain Development’’, authored by a group of researchers from the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Ahmadu Bello University, also proffered some recommendations capable of bolstering the Nigerian milk and dairy production sector.
The study stressed on the need for urgent government intervention in the dairy industry to ensure proper post-harvest handling and marketing. It further stated that increasing the national dairy production with value added processing would contribute significantly to reducing the rising costs of dairy imports, which would in turn provide income sources to domestic dairy farmers and all those involved in the dairy value chain.
The study also indicated distributed database technology as having a significant impact on rural dairy data management in the upcoming years because distributed database systems have many potential advantages over centralized systems, especially for geographically distributed projects. It also suggested that the Nigerian Livestock Development Programme (NLDP) and other indigenous stakeholders work closely with the Dairy Records Management System (DRMS) to develop modalities for setting up dairy data service centres in Nigeria.
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s dairy production sector also called for the implementation of relevant strategies, including a zero tax exemption policy on dairy equipment, to help develop the quality and quantity of local dairy products for Nigerian consumers.
They made the demand in Abuja during the recently concluded 2022 summit on National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in partnership with Agriculture Correspondents of Nigeria (ACAN) and the Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition.
Jimmy Johnmark, general manager of Arla Farm, a dairy farm located in Kaduna State, explained that Nigeria currently produces less than 10 per cent of milk produced locally because there is not enough equipment to boost production that would satisfy the population.
Johnmark opined that the high tax on the equipment contributes significantly to the low quality of dairy products, adding that most people tend to “cut corners” because of the high taxation pressed on equipment.
He noted that this factor affects the quality of dairy as higher tax on equipment slows down the process of production and affects the quality and quantity of dairy products in the long run.
“Most of the dairy equipment are not produced locally, and we need to import a lot of these things to be able to function in that industry,” Johnmark said.
“If there is no zero tax, just like in the other agricultural machinery, then we are bound to have this process being slowed and investment will not be much, thereby affecting milk quality,” he said.
Johnmark appealed to the government to facilitate the production and processing of dairy products by making it easy for producers to access the equipment at an affordable price.
The general manager of Arla Farm also called for more establishment of milk processing centres in each state and rehabilitation of the few in existence.
The establishment of more centres, he said, would contribute to empowerment, curb wastage and improve the value chain.
Demo Kalla, an Animal Science lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU), said there was a need to encourage local fabrication of dairy equipment to reduce imports and to have more milk aggregators in the dairy clusters to facilitate milk collection.
Kalla also stated that the reduction of the high price of dairy equipment will ensure they are more available to local producers, while playing a significant role in increasing local production and consequently reducing dairy imports.
A communique presented at the summit urged the federal government to review the implementation elements of the National Livestock Transformation Plan with clear delineation of roles and responsibilities as well as provision of funding, resource mobilisation, climate adaptation and resilience strategies for the programme.
“There should be greater engagement with the private sector on the huge economic potential of NLTP with the aim of attracting greater investment. This would require the development of NLTP Business Case(s) as a primary tool of engagement,” the communique read in part.
It enjoined the agriculture ministry to establish a coordination platform to promote greater synergy, interaction, collaboration and learning among stakeholders.
The federal government was also rencouraged to revive and strengthen local governance structures, principles, approaches and natural resources management protocols for resolving conflicts in support of the NLTP.