Nestlé’s Nigeria Livestock Development Project (NLDP), has celebrated a milestone of 2,500 litres of fresh milk per day from only 200 litres collected on the first day of milk collection on June 1, 2021.
A collaboration between Nestlé Nigeria, ‘CBiIL’ and 2SCALE, NLDP delivers 1,500 L/day at Paikon Kore Grazing Reserve and 1,000L/day at Kachia Grazing Reserve.
Corporate communications and public affairs manager for Nestlé Nigeria, Victoria Uwadoka, who disclosed this at the celebration of World Milk Day 2022 at Paikon Kore, said the collection of 2,500L/day was made possible by 25 cooperatives comprising over 625 households milking between 4,000 and 6,000 cows every day.
These cooperatives have been trained and nurtured for over 18 months to achieve the good quality fresh milk now produced through the project, Uwadoka added.
The celebration of World Milk Day 2022 at Paikon Kore provided a platform for recognising and rewarding the farmers who excelled in various aspects of milk production.
Categories of awards included; Highest Producing Male (AbdulrahmanRabia), Highest Producing Female (Rabia Raga), Best Aggregator (Shehu Muhammed), Best Cooperative Kosan Denko, Best Milking Community, and Aggregator with Least Spoilage (Adamu Abdullah). The recipients were delighted and expressed their thanks to Nestlé and the NLDP.
The permanent secretary, FCT, Mr Olusade Adesola, said: “it is glad to note that milk production has steadily increased from 150 to 1,500 litres daily within the past two years of this partnership. I have been made to understand the products from this centre are being sold in markets within and outside the Federal Capital Territory.”
Also speaking, the mandate secretary, ARDS, MallamAbubakar Ibrahim, said: “it may interest you all to know that since the reactivation of the MCCC in 2021 in partnership with Nestlé Nigeria PLC, daily milk production has risen from between about 300 to 1,500 litres.
“This is a result of continuous training and improvement initiatives by both partners and support from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. If plans by the NLDP partnership to introduce new cattle breeds and a demonstration farm are anything to go by, milk production in the FCT will receive a boost.”
Nestlé continues to leverage its expertise in dairy to help build a sustainable dairy ecosystem through the NLDP to achieve its objective of Creating Shared Value with Nigerian dairy value chain stakeholders. The program contributes to the local economy by providing the training and empowerment of the locals and then purchasing services from them.
NLDP is built on three pillars: Better Fodder, Better Quality, and Better Products. This will be achieved by improving cooperative dynamics, promoting better herd health, and engendering hygienic milk collection and handling practices.
The NLDP has trained over 1,400 producers in modern Milk Handling and Milking Hygiene techniques to help them produce to industry standards, thereby, opening more routes to market. Nestlé pays a premium above the market rates in addition to helping the families increase production and improve the quality of their products.
