Friesland Campina eyes dairy revolution in Nigeria with new development centre

Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, an affiliate of Royal Friesland Campina in the Netherlands and one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the world, has launched the Centre for Nigerian Dutch Dairy Development ( CNDDD) in Nigeria.

The company aims to trigger dairy revolution and self-sufficiency in Africa’s most populous nation.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the center, Bernard Langat, managing director, Friesland Campina, said the center was built on a Sino Dutch concept adopted in China to boost the productivity and quality level of the Nigerian dairy sector. He described the country’s dairy sector as a diamond in the rough— quite valuable but bedeviled by challenges

“About 95 percent of cattle herds in Nigeria are local indigenous breeds with over 60 percent owned by nomadic Fulani herds with an average milk supply of two liters per day from each cow,” Langat said.

“Also, the few available commercial dairy farms suffer low profitability as imported milk powder accounts for about 75 percent of raw materials used by Nigeria’s dairy industry to process dairy products,” he further said.

Langat noted that in preparing for the continuous increase in population figures, it was necessary to embrace the agricultural sector, especially the dairy sector, which was one of the pillars that would bring economic and social stability in the country.

While delivering the keynote address, Yemi Osinbajo, vice president of Nigeria, said the launch of the center was an effort that would contribute to building a self-sufficient dairy segment in Nigeria. He said it underscored the commitment of the Netherlands to developing the sector and supporting Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda.

Osinbajo, who was represented by Adeniyi Adebayo, minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, noted that the country’s dairy market was serviced largely through import valued at $ 1.3 billion to supply the deficit in local productions, with milk production accounting for about 13 percent of West Africa’s production and 0.01 percent of global production.

“Nigeria is aggressively focusing on driving its industrialisation and backward integration plans across various sectors including dairy. The establishment of the center will impact the economy positively by creating employment, fostering economic diversification, building industrial capacity and competitiveness and improving the management of the country’s foreign exchange reserves,” he said.

Jeroen Elfers, corporate director, Dairy Development and Milkstreams, Friesland Campina, said the objective of the center was to boost productivity and sustainability in Nigeria’s dairy sector by pooling diverse resources, including inspiring and knowledge sharing among dairy stakeholders.

Elfers noted that to achieve a sustainable dairy sector, it would be necessary to build expertise knowledge, infrastructure and cooperatives, while also training and supporting farmers.

“The CNDDD will unlock and develop dairy expertise for all stakeholders in and beyond the Nigerian dairy sector. We have 19,000 farmers in the Netherlands whom Friesland Campina just co-opted, and these Dutch farmers will go on missions to Nigeria to teach, coach and mentor local farmers in the country,” he said.

He further said that the center, which was located at the University of Abuja campus, commenced operations on the October 15 with the publication of a brochure on the international dairy sector and the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that the center would, over the next few months, roll out its other initiatives.

Beyond boosting the dairy sector, Elfers noted that the center would engage in many other activities including training programs, research sponsorship on breeding and feeding, incorporation of knowledge and expertise from Netherlands.