Minister Seeks Action On Local Milk Production

BY GABI HIBBATULLAH, Abuja

Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, has urged stakeholders in the dairy industry to move from repeated policy meetings to practical action to increase local milk production in Nigeria.

Maiha made the call on Monday in Abuja at the validation workshop on the National Action Plan for the Promotion of Local Milk in Nigeria.

He said the country needed to move beyond conferences and workshops to address the challenges confronting dairy farmers, adding that future engagements should take place in farming communities to enable stakeholders to understand the problems and develop practical solutions.

“We have been meeting too many times in the last two years, and I think it is high time we left conferences. Let’s go and implement,” the minister said.

He said the proposed action plan should translate the priorities of the National Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy into two-year responsibilities, funded activities and measurable results.

According to him, the plan must address critical areas, including animal health, feed and water, finance, infrastructure, extension services, peace-building, women’s and youth participation, and reliable data.

Maiha identified inadequate fodder and water, animal health challenges, limited extension services and weaknesses in milk collection systems as some of the constraints affecting local milk supply.

He also called for investments in milk collection and cooling centres linked to viable markets, stressing that such facilities must have capable operators, transparent quality standards and dependable offtake arrangements.

The minister cautioned against establishing facilities without sustainable business arrangements, noting that some existing dairy infrastructure had become inactive or was not operating effectively.

He cited farmer-centred dairy programmes and private sector investments as initiatives that could be strengthened through partnerships between producers and processors.

Maiha said Nigeria could also learn from Kenya and Uganda, where cooperative-based extension services and private sector investments had helped connect smallholder farmers to technical support, milk collection and processing markets.

He stressed the need to ensure that women and young people had access to training, finance, technology, leadership opportunities and ownership in the dairy value chain.

The minister further said the action plan should establish clear institutional responsibilities, identify funding sources and track progress through indicators such as local milk procurement, farmers’ incomes, private investment and the participation of women and young people.

He expressed concern over the lack of reliable data on the country’s daily milk production, the number of dairy companies linked to processors and the challenges facing producers in milk collection and storage.

According to him, the absence of credible data makes it difficult to determine whether local milk production is increasing or declining and measure the impact of government interventions.

Maiha said the ministry would focus on policy, regulation and standardisation while working with investors and small-, medium- and large-scale dairy producers to implement the action plan.

He urged participants, including development partners, farmers, processors and other stakeholders, to produce a practical document that could be implemented in the field rather than remain a policy commitment.

Also speaking, the Head of Food Fortification Unit, Nutrition Development Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Chukwumnonso Igboekwe, who represented the minister, said the ministry was committed to providing the necessary support, structures and incentives to promote growth in the sector.

Igboekwe said the dairy industry was strategic to Nigeria’s economic growth, public health and the wellbeing of future generations.

He expressed hope that the workshop would produce actionable outcomes that would be assessed through key performance indicators, adding that the ministry looked forward to supporting investments that would strengthen the sector.

Also speaking, a member of the Presidential Livestock Reforms Implementation Committee and Vice-Chancellor of Taraba State University of Tropical Agriculture, Science, Technology and Climate Action, Professor Demo Kalla, called for improved data collection and coordination among stakeholders to accelerate the development of the dairy industry.

Kalla said Nigeria needed a coordinated national data collection system to determine the quantity of milk produced and collected across the country and measure progress in the sector.

He proposed the establishment of a National Dairy Board, as provided for in the National Dairy Policy, to coordinate industry players and provide a platform for stakeholders to work together.

According to him, a National Dairy Platform would also help improve milk quality through industry-wide standards and measures against the supply of inferior or adulterated milk.

He said reliable data would enable the government and private sector to determine national milk production levels, assess demand and identify areas requiring investment.

Kalla, who is also Acting Director of the TETFund Centre of Excellence on Dairy Research and Development at ATBU, Bauchi, said the country’s dairy development efforts should give attention to small-scale producers, noting that aggregating their output could significantly increase local milk supply.

He cited India, Uganda and Kenya as examples of countries where small-scale producers play important roles in the dairy industry.

The professor said the proposed Taraba State University of Tropical Agriculture, Science, Technology and Climate Action, would focus part of its research, training and extension activities on dairy development.

He said the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and the implementation framework for the National Dairy Policy had created opportunities for greater private sector participation and investment in the industry.

Kalla added that stakeholders should prioritise collaboration over competition at the current stage of the industry’s development, arguing that Nigeria’s large milk market required collective efforts to increase production.

He said the country could learn from other African countries, citing Uganda’s annual milk production of 5.4 billion litres as an example of what improved coordination could achieve.

Executive Director, Commercial, Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN), Dianabasi Akpainyang, who represented the association’s National President, Alhaji M.D. Abubakar, said Nigeria’s dependence on imported milk was depriving local producers of economic opportunities and exposing the country to potential supply disruptions.

“Every litre of milk we import is a job exported. So, the people who are producing the milk in those countries are getting richer, while Nigerians who are spending the money to buy the imported milk are getting poorer,” he said.

He said the association welcomed the development of the action plan but stressed that its success would depend on effective implementation rather than repeated meetings and policy discussions.

Akpainyang identified low animal productivity, inadequate feed and fodder supply, and poor cold-chain infrastructure as some of the challenges affecting local milk production.

He said the association currently operated two milk collection centres across the country but had to invest heavily in solar electricity systems because of the absence of public power supply in the rural communities where the facilities were located.

According to him, increasing local production would require addressing these challenges and creating an environment that would enable dairy operators to expand their businesses.

He said the association’s estimates showed that local production of about 700 million litres against demand of 1.7 billion litres left a substantial gap that would take time to close.

He added that the target was to increase production to 1.4 billion litres within five years while working towards eventual self-sufficiency.

He said the association tracked milk import data through the Nigeria Customs Service every quarter and was working with the National Bureau of Statistics and other relevant institutions to establish more reliable figures.