Local dairy producers can satisfy Nigeria’s milk need if… - Alhaji Sunusi

Alhaji Sunusi Abdullahi Abubakar alias SAN Yoghurt is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAJ Foods Nigeria Limited, Zaria, one of the leading dairy producers in Northern Nigeria. In this interview with Daily Trust, he says, among others, the Federal Government is obliged to extend its local content programme to dairy producers as they have the capacity to satisfy the milk need of the country.

Is it Zaria alone that you get the 7,000 litres of milk?

For now it is only from Zaria and its environs that we get the cow milk. There are many problems that the Fulani are facing, which are part of the things that hinder their production. The issue of rustling is the major problem, followed by lack of cow feed. This is why they migrate to other places.

How are you filling the gap to ensure you work at full capacity?

The only option we explore is to import powdered milk. Of course, cow milk and powdered milk cannot be compared in terms of quality and content. This is a serious challenge. The government needs to take the issue of Fulani very serious. There are breeds of cows in this country that can give us what we want if they are improved upon.

Do you dedicate all the milk to producing yoghurt?

There are many things we can do here. We can produce yoghurt, butter, shea butter and cheese. It is possible to get the 60,000 litres that we need, especially if government can pay attention to institutes like the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). This institute has conducted serious researches on how to improve our cattle, especially through crossfertilisation and artificial insemination.

NAPRI has a way of bringing sperm of foreign cows to cross-fertilise with our local cows to breed improved cows that can produce a lot of milk. Kenya tried this and they are reaping the benefits. If you go to Kenya, it is difficult to see the type of our local cows. Through this cross-fertilisation, cows that can cope with our weather and environment can be produced. This is more advantageous than importing cows.

Government has policies to assist local firms. Are these firms capable of meeting local demand?

Yes, to some extent this is true. However, the foreign firms that are being patronised did not grow overnight. They developed at almost the same rate with the development of their mother countries. Therefore, the Nigerian government can nurture its own local firms by assisting them to develop like their foreign counterparts. If we always patronise foreign industries, our industrialisation strive would just end up being a mirage.

There are local firms that have determination of sourcing all their raw materials locally. For example, we have our own farm where we breed our own cows through cross-fertilisation with foreign cows. We have begun to see the result. We also have Fulani associations that are supplying cow milk to us. By these efforts, I think we are also playing a role in addressing the web of security challenges facing this country.

Therefore, if local companies are assisted and encouraged we can do better than foreign companies, because we have good understanding of our terrain and the Fulani living in our midst.

If we could get the necessary support, I want to assure you that local dairy producers like us can satisfy the milk demand of Kaduna State and Nigeria in general.

However, this cannot be done overnight, it would require the cooperation of government, Nigerians, particularly, the Fulani and other herders.

There are countries that rely on milk for income. Price of milk is now above the price of crude oil. Countries like Newzealand are developing their countries and economies with milk. In Nigeria, God has blessed us. We have fertile land and grass that we can use to produce cow feed that would greatly improve milk production by our cows.

Is the patronage of local

milk helping to reduce the migration of Fulani herders?

We copied a system that companies like ours in Bangladesh adopt. Aside buying milk from their herders, they also assist the herders with cow feed. This is because the main reason that makes herders to migrate is lack of feed.

Therefore, during harvest season, we buy feed at cheaper price to store. We sell this feed to the Fulani during the peak of demand at the same price we bought them and we don’t ask them to pay in cash immediately. We usually make schedule of payment. For example, if a herder brings N1,000 milk to us, we can deduct N200 as repayment for feed until he finishes paying for the feed he collected from us.

Similarly, for the fact that we are producing maize flour, we also give them the residues to feed their cows at a very cheaper price. This is in addition to the vaccination and other medication we administer to their cows for free. This is greatly helping in making the Fulani we are dealing with to settle in one place; hence this is leading to reduction in farmers/herders clashes and the roaming about of Fulani women hawking cow milk.

If government can come in and build schools and other facilities for these Fulani people, definitely there would be reduction in the security challenges facing the country.

What do you have to say to Nigerian youths?

Let me use my own example to advise them. After I studied Business Administration at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, I went straight into this business. My mates were at that time mocking me, because the time we finished university coincided with the coming on stream of the third-generation banks. Therefore, about 70 per cent of my mates went into the banking sector.

I refused to follow them and started the yoghurt business with two kilogrammes of milk. All is now history as that business has led us to where we are today, as we are one of the leading dairy companies in Nigeria. This is to tell you that you don’t need a huge sum of money to begin a business. All you need is to believe in yourself and have passion in what you do.

Price of milk is now above the price of crude oil. Countries like Newzealand are developing their countries and economies with milk. In Nigeria, God has blessed us. We have fertile land and grass that we can use to produce cow feed that would greatly improve milk production by our cows.