FG targets 1.4bn litres of milk production in five years

The Federal Government has set a target of doubling Nigeria’s annual milk production from 700 million litres to 1.4 billion litres within five years to reduce dependence on imported dairy products.

The Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, announced this on Monday at a validation workshop in Abuja on the National Action Plan for the Promotion of Local Milk in Nigeria.

The workshop, facilitated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), brought together dairy farmers, researchers, and development partners, including Sahel Consulting, to discuss strategies to improve local milk production.

Maiha urged stakeholders to move from discussions to action, saying mistakes made in the field were better than the best conference resolutions left unimplemented.

He said Nigeria could no longer depend on other countries to develop its dairy industry, calling for deliberate efforts by federal and state governments, private investors, farmers and researchers.

The minister identified improved cattle breeds, adequate feed and water, veterinary services and functional milk collection centres as critical to increasing production.

He also called for a shift from subsistence cattle rearing to commercial dairy farming, with support for smallholder farmers to supply milk to processing companies through organised collection systems.

Maiha said Nigeria had over 58 million cattle but was yet to maximise their milk production potential.

He cited Kenya, Uganda and India as examples of countries that had developed their dairy industries through smallholder farming and effective milk collection systems.

The National President of the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria (CODARAN), Alhaji Muhammadu Damakka Abubakar, said Nigeria produced about 700 million litres of milk annually against an estimated demand of 1.7 billion litres.

Represented by the association’s Executive Director, Dianabasi Akpainyang, he said the supply gap of about one billion litres had made the country heavily dependent on imported milk.

He warned that the situation was denying local farmers and businesses employment and economic opportunities.

“Every litre of milk we import is a job exported,” he said.

Abubakar identified low cattle productivity, inadequate feed and fodder, limited water supply and poor cold-chain infrastructure as major challenges.

He said CODARAN was also targeting 1.4 billion litres of local milk production within five years, adding that achieving full self-sufficiency would take longer.

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